Here Without You
by ZatsuneMiku1
Summary: When a mission that Lucy and Natsu take up goes horribly wrong, Lucy finds herself trapped. Not only is she kidnapped, but turned into a slave. Natsu wasn't even there to protect her when she really needed him. She isn't sure if she should trust the boy anymore, even if she so desperately wants to think he'll come for her. Natsu and Lucy. Listed as M for ideas I have.
1. Chapter 1

Her eyes quickly fluttered open, though she wasn't entirely sure as to whether or not they were actually open for she couldn't see any difference in lighting from the inside of her eyelids to the pitch black darkness of the room she was in. She wasn't even sure where she was, or how she got there. All she could remember was…

A headache pushed through, forcing her eyes to shut tightly from the pain. She couldn't exactly remember anything. Just how long had she been there? How did she get there in the first pl… Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. The name seemed to ring a bell in her head. A face was quick to follow: onyx coloured eyes, soft pink truffles of hair, and a grin that could spread from ear to ear. She could slightly picture him talking to her. A memory perhaps. He spoke, but she couldn't hear. She worked on reading his lips, not an easy thing for her to do.

Lucy. That was her name. Lucy Heartfilia.

She and Natsu had agreed on a mission. It all started like that She could now slightly remember who she was, what had happened.

* * *

Natsu smiled at her, holding her one hand excitedly and showing her the mission sheet. A small excitement found its way up her cheeks just from the small touch, but she wasn't about to let it show. The blonde mage, also known as Lucy, didn't know exactly how she felt about going on a mission of this sort without the help of Gray or Erza. Sure, Natsu was strong, but she knew that she just wasn't.

"All we have to do is take down this dark guild! Easy enough, right?" Natsu gleamed.

Lucy, however, still wasn't sure if she really wanted to do this without the two missing teammates. She frowned, pulling her hand back quickly in protest. "I don't know, Natsu. Won't it be hard with just the two of us?"

Natsu's smile widened, though she wasn't sure if that was really possible. "Of course it'll be hard! But that's what'll make it fun!"

She pushed her hand through her bangs, silently considering her options. If she went along, she'd get to spend time with the pink-haired fire Dragon Slayer mage whom she liked so much. But at the same time, she had the strangest of feelings that things wouldn't go as well as planned. Still, she knew Natsu would do anything in his power to protect her. Erza and Gray wouldn't be there in case something bad did happen, though.

Her heart leaned towards going. No matter how dangerous it was, she so wanted to spend time with Natsu. They might not have actually been a couple, but she knew she had feelings for the oblivious boy. She opened her mouth to speak, but Natsu cut her off with a stern look. He said, "Look, even if you decide not to go, I'm going."

Lucy frowned for a second before giving him a quick smile. "I'll go then!"

Natsu beamed with joy again. "Great! I'll go tell Mira we'll take the job! Be ready by twelve to leave!"

Lucy let out a slight sigh. She couldn't exactly believe that she and Natsu were actually on a mission alone together. Plus, she had only an hour so early in the morning to pack! She smiled, however. Perhaps they could spend some time together afterwards.

* * *

Lucy sighed to herself. She knew something bad would happen. Why did she had to agree? Why couldn't see have just said no to Natsu?

Natsu...

Her thoughts trailed. Where was that obnoxious boy? Why hadn't he come for her? He must have noticed that she was missing by now… right?

* * *

Lucy couldn't help but smile at the Dragon Slayer who was laying his head on her hap. He was never well when it came to transportation, getting sick very easily. But since they were on a train, his only other option for comfort was the window. Lucy, however, didn't mind. She was already enjoying being able to lay her hand in his soft hair to comfort him.

She knew she had feelings for him, for when he was around, she felt safer. She liked, as well, how bright he could make even the darkest of rooms feel. She enjoyed his enthusiasm, his excitement, even the scary looks he could make when angry. She loved how caring he was when it came to guild members; when it came to friends.

But he was destructive, something unstable, and maybe a little cocky at times. These attributes didn't push her away though, only making her want him more. But she knew he didn't like her that way. They were just friends; teammates. And that was all they'd ever be. Besides, Natsu was oblivious to her feelings as a turtle is to a rabbit, though she figured that was a poor comparison.

It didn't matter how much she tried to show her feelings, he never seemed to notice. And to be frank, she had all but given up. Lucy looked down at the boy who had his face towards her stomach.

He was looking up at her with his beautiful onyx eyes, studying her face. Lucy had to try her best to hide her blush as she passed him down a soft smile, rubbed his head ever so slightly. He wore a straight face, no sign of any emotion. The boy just stared up at her blandly.

The small jerking of the cart signified that the train had reached its destination, followed by the loud whistle sounding. Lucy helped Natsu to his feet and led him off the train. It was only then that the girl noticed that a certain blue Exceed wasn't there. When she was certain that Natsu felt better, she questioned him. "Where's Happy?"

Natsu looked timidly at her. "He didn't want to come along. Then he told me to tell you for him, 'You're welcome.' I don't understand why though. Why would he say that, Luce?"

Shock hid Lucy for a second, but she pushed it back quickly. Happy had always known that Lucy held feelings for Natsu, but he never said anything about it. Sure, he'd sometimes tease Lucy about it, but never more than that, as far as she knew.

"It's nothing." She laughed slightly, walking happily away.

She heard a small noise come from the Dragon Slayer as he tried to catch up with her. "Why did he mean by it?"

Lucy pressed on with the same answer no matter how many times he asked. They soon came upon a smallish black castle. Dead plants and trees surrounded it. It was easy to tell that at some point, the grounds surrounding the place were once an amazing garden with a great amount of love, but now? Now it was eerie. Almost as if noting would ever live there again. Almost as if everything was purposely destroyed.

Seeing this, Lucy felt her voice trail slowly off. "I said... it was... nothing..."

Natsu saw this scenery as well and Lucy could swear she saw him gulp. Only when a crow loudly passed did he break out of his daze. His vigor was quick to return. He grabbed her hand and pulled through the front gate.

He laughed soundly. "Where are all the mages?"

"Don't be so loud!" Lucy hissed at him, almost twice as loud.

A loud noise came from the building as mage's of all shape and sizes came out. Natsu patted Lucy on the back enthusiastically. "Alright! Good job! You got their attention, Luce!"

Lucy moaned in regret as Natsu ran towards the Dark Guild members, spewing fire all willy-nilly. She knew she had to do something, summon someone. Her first though was Aquarius, but then she remembered that that day was one of the days requested not to be called on. Virgo would have to do for now.

And so she called out Virgo. Males of the Dark Guild fawned tirelessly at the two girls. Virgo asked right off the bat, "Is it time to be punished?"

Lucy smiled. "Take them all down, Virgo!"

Virgo nodded and Lucy pulled out her whip. They attacked together, taking down one enemy at a time, but at a steady pace.

By the time they finished, Lucy was bruised and slightly cut. Virgo was already back in the spirit world and she felt that she was slightly too tired to do much. She looked over to see how Natsu was doing, but only to her demise.

He was... losing...

"Impossible…" she muttered to herself. Natsu of Fairy Tail, Salamander, Fire mage… Natsu Dragneel the Dragon Slayer, son of the Dragon Igneel. That very Natsu was losing, and she couldn't do anything about it. In fact, he was against some sort of water mage, a fairly strong one. The water mage didn't even look tired in any way, nor did he have a single bruise of any kind.

Lucy gasped in horror as Natsu was flung back by her. She couldn't provide him with fire, she had nothing for it, and as far as she could see, there wasn't anything to really explode. She thought to herself, 'Actually, when I was fighting, the only mages I met were either ice or water. Nothing other than that…'

She ran to his side and grabbed his hand. "Natsu! Natsu, are you okay?"

Hatred poured through his eyes the minute they opened. Still she could see the friendship buried deep within as his eyes hit her own. He smiled. "L-Lucy… -You should go to s-safety."

"Not without you!" she yelled, tears already starting to form.

Even so, a larger smiled appeared on his face. "It's okay. I've got this guy under con-control!"

A tear fell from her eye and onto his cheek, forcing a sterner look onto his face. She shook her head at him. "No!"

"Luce…" he started. "I'll be fine. I don't want you to get hurt!"

"What about yourself?" she cried hysterically. "You're covered in cuts and bruises!"

"I'm fine!" he said. "I'll come to you when I'm done with this guy."

He reached up and wiped at a tear that was rolling down her cheek with his thumb. Then, he gave her a soft smile to make her feel better. "I promise I'll come to you."

She shook her head faster, though she knew that she had already lost this battle when he stood up on his own with much more confidence. He wiped the blood from his mouth and pushed her away. She took a few steps back. "Promise me that you'll be fine!"

"Lucy…"

"Promise!"

He let out a small sigh. "I… promise."

She smiled and behind the nearest large rock to hide. Lucy hid where she could still see Natsu, just in case. She was worried, though she knew she didn't have to be. Natsu promised that he'd come for her, come back fine.

Flames poured around the surrounding area, but where easily put out with water. Lucy now found herself enticed by the fight, watching every move carefully yet intensely. She was so concentrated that she never heard the footsteps behind her. Never once until a pair of hands wrapped around her mouth and waist.

Panic kicked in as she tried her best to protest. She could feel a cloth in front of her face, but ignored it as she bit into the hand and kicked with all her might. She just needed to call for him. He'd come for her. "N-Natsu!"

The scream echoed loudly. She knew he had heart it as the hands flew around again. This time, the cloth made it over her nose and slowly she felt more and more sleepy. The Dragon Slayer, with his excellent hearing, turned around quickly to see this. She could swear that he was yelling something, but she wasn't entirely sure what, even her hearing was started to fade. She tried to read his lips, giggling to herself in confusion. 'Pasta? That's what he yelled? What an odd thing to yell!'

Her eyes had just began to close when she saw a final blow his Natsu in his distraction. His head banged off the ground and she could swear she saw a little blood.

Blackness…

* * *

Tears flowed down Lucy's masked face. He hadn't screamed pasta, but rather her name. He was calling for her. He intended to come for her, but was stopped and hit. She had caused him to get hit! She had caused the blood!

Lucy shut her eyes quickly and tightly when footsteps were heard and a door opened. She managed to make out the sound of two pairs of feet.

"Blondie here will fetch us enough money." said a low, musky voice.

A boot pushed her over. Another voice, whom she believed to belong to the boot, sounded. This one was higher and just a tad bit more irritating. "What about her friend? What happened to him?"

The first voice spoke after a small chuckle. "Don't worry. He's dead. Illyon took care of him."

The two voices laughed together and walked slowly away.

Tears started to run wild now.

Natsu… was dead?

'Natsu can't be dead!' she thought to herself, shock running down her face. 'He can't be! He promised that he'd come for me!'

* * *

**Hello. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. There are still so many things I want to do with this. Gosh. So many ideas.**

**um... well, in all actuality, this story has a fairly simple idea planned out. I have so much I want to do though!**

**I started working on this while waiting for Jesse to finish his chapter for our other story, The Everlasting Love of Distraught. But then he finished and told me to get writing. But I wanted to finish this first. So here it is... all done while I'm still behind on the other one. Plus I gotta pull two essays out of my ass by Monday. Then gotta edit my novel AND THEN get started on two more essays. In the meantime, Jesse'll be expecting me to write. This shouldn't be too hard.**

**Anyways, like I said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please do review. I appreciate comments like crazy. I've made it my ritual to check to see if there are any new comments every morning before school and every night before bed. And if you don't mind, hit that cute little favourite button, and/or the follow button. I really appreciate that as well.**

**Um... I don't own Fairy Tail. And if I did? There'd be a LOT of depression. :U**


	2. Chapter 2

Alone in a cold rain of the night, an almost lifeless body lies there, badly injured. Only the slight heave of the body's chest indicates that life still exists in the body, even if it's extremely slow and week. Still, hours pass with no progress.

The rain is falling mournfully when the body finally moves. The body belongs to a male, and it moves ever so slowly to get up, writhing in pain. The mud is slick, forcing him into slipping. He couldn't hold himself up well, so he slipped with each step he manages. So much dirt and mud is present in his hair that it was impossible to tell that it was once a light shade of pink. Bruises were present even under eyes from his exhaustion.

The boy stumbles over to the nearest rock. Pain shoots up his body with each step, but he did his best to ignore it as he leaned his aching body against a large rock. Rain washed at his wounds, stinging them ever so slightly. Eyes lazily look around the area, scanning for any sight of blonde hair.

Gold flashing, even in the pouring rain, caught his eyes. The boy grumbled to himself, lifting with the hope she just might be there. He made his way awkwardly to the gold and picked it up. The gold and silver keys dangled and hit each other with the small sound of metal hitting metal. He could hear this, but others would have found the sound washed away in the rain.

He let out a sigh, clenching the keys tight in his hands, scanning again for any sight of her. He began to search a little more frantically now. He forced himself into walking faster, making sharp twists with his head, ignoring the constant sharp pain that came along with it.

Bodies were rolled over, but none of them were her. He called out her name with all his might, tripping over his own feet. A mouth full of mud came to be easy. He spat it out quickly, not entirely sure if it was just mud. No sign of the blonde girl existed. It was almost as if the world was void of her. As if she never existed in the first place. The only proof of her that he could hold onto and know that she was there, that she had been there, were her keys.

The dirty pink-haired boy flips over the last body, but he already knows it couldn't be her. He felt weak and the pain was finally catching up to him. His knees wobbled with his next few steps, and finally he went down. He snarled at himself for being so weak and worked at pushing himself back up. He landed face first in the mud again, but didn't bother getting up this time. He turned his face to the side.

He could swear that he could see the blonde smiling at him, reaching out for him to get up. The boy reached his arm up weakly for her, but it dropped soon after back to his side.

She smiled. "Come on, Natsu. The people at Fairy Tail are waiting for us. You can rest when we get back."

"Lucy…" Natsu mumbled, his pink-hair washing itself from the mud, then obtaining more once again. His vision was slowly blackening again; losing his consciousness. He reached ou for her one last time. He wore himself to all hell for not being able to protect her like he had meant to, but now he couldn't even hold onto consciousness. He couldn't do anything.

* * *

Erza looked around the guild. It was quiet, almost too quiet to be real. It was almost as if some person wasn't there at all. As if all the noise that really was there now, wasn't enough because that certain person wasn't there. Her eyes scanned the room over to Gray, who was being fawned over by Juvia, he was calm, too calm.

"He's not here…" she sighed out, realizing what the problem was. She walked over to the white-haired mage, who was awkwardly rubbing at one spot on the counter behind the bar. A look of worry was obvious to all who saw her. Erza cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the apprehensive Mirajane, and asked her, "Where's Natsu?"

"He and Lucy went on a mission together." she stated blandly.

"What was the mission?"

"Take down a dark guild…"

"When did they leave?"

Mira's eyes shot up to Erza's. "Two days ago…"

"They should be back by now, right?" Erza question, mainly to herself.

She noticed a small nod from Mirajane.

"You said he brought Lucy?"

Another nod.

Erza walks over to Gray, leaving the tedious girl there; she grabbed his arm and started pulling him along. Gray didn't fight it, but rather walked along side. "What's happening?"

Erza continued to look forward with a stern facial expression. "I think Natsu bit off more than he could chew. And he brought with him."

* * *

A solemn white light is what he wakes to. The light hurts his freshly unglazed eyes, but he kept his eyes open, not wanting to return into the darkness. He couldn't move well, and when his vision finally corrected itself, he understood why. Most of his body was in a bandage, wrapped tightly to stop any kind of bleeding, almost too tightly.

He wasn't sure where he was, or what he was doing, he just knew that he needed to get out. He needed to find her.

Bandages that were too tight were ripped quickly and painfully off until the boy could finally remove himself from the bed. A chill pushed through. Grabbing his shirt, which was on the table next to him along with his scarf, he searched for Lucy's keys.

He cursed at himself when he couldn't find them. His one hope he had that she was real… was missing. There was no way he was going to let them out of his sight. No. He couldn't. He had to protect them for Lucy, keep them safe for her. Slight depression kicked in.

'How can I protect her keys if I can't even protect her? I've clearly lost them anyways… and more importantly, I've lost her.' he sighs to himself.

He stood up and walked awkwardly to the door. 'No. I can't get down now. I've got to find Lucy and her keys.'

The boy went down a flight of steps, pain flowing wildly with each step, and found himself in a crowd of people he knew. He starred at them, now curious whether or not Lucy was there, and they all starred back.

He could them whisper.

"Natsu's up…?"

"He really got beat then?"

"Where's Lucy?"

"I was told they couldn't find her body!"

"Don't tell me she's dead!"

"I don't know, but it's a possibility…"

Dead? His Lucy… dead? Impossible. Improbable. Natsu shook his head vigorously. "Who said that?"

Everyone directed their full attention at him, but none spoke up. His eyes searched the crowd angrily. "Who said that she might be dead?"

Silence.

"She's not dead, damn it!" Natsu roared. He wanted to cry, but at the same time, he didn't. "Lucy isn't dead, damn you! She wouldn't die so easily! How dare you all think she'd die so easily?"

A hand patted him softly on the shoulder. His wild eyes were quick to meet with those of Erza's. She frowned at him with saddened eyes. "Natsu…"

"Where is she?" he asked loudly. "She should be here by now! Where is Lucy?"

"Natsu… she's not here. We couldn't find her. Gray and I looked everywhere."

His eyes widened, his head slowly starting to shake in disbelief. "You didn't look hard enough then. I'll go look myself."

He ripped his shoulder from her grasp and started to stomp towards the door. No one said anything.

His small blue Exceed was quick to find him but even faster to notice the pain. "What happened?"

"Nothing." He said blandly.

Happy didn't give in, knowing something was wrong with the boy. "Tell me what happened, Natsu!"

"Nothing happened!" he growled back.

"Then I'll go ask Lucy!"

"Lucy's gone!"

Happy frowned. "You're lying, right?"

Natsu turned to the cat, clearly annoyed. "No. She's gone, Happy. Nowhere to be found!"

"Well, what hap-"

"Nothing happened, Happy!" he snapped, causing a few tears to form in the cat's eyes. "Why don't you go home and have some fish? I'd much rather be alone right now!"

"But Natsu…"

"Go home, Happy!"

Happy started to fly sadly away, looking back a few times to see if the Dragon Slayer had suddenly decided to change his mind. Natsu looked down at his hand, the one that had once held her hand. He needed to find her… he needed her.

"What exactly happened?" Master Makarov asked Natsu.

Natsu was looking at the floor now. Easily could he have told the old man what had happened if they were alone, but everyone was listening now. They'd all get to hear how Natsu of Fairy Tail, Fire wizard… how he, the Dragon Slayer, lost his fight… and lost Lucy. His eyes picked up momentarily to look at Makarov, but he knew he couldn't avoid the question now.

He relived the tale, giving off every bit of information he knew about the mission, then every bit of memory he had about it. He could swear he could hear crying form some people and swearing from the others, but he kept going.

When he finally finished, he looked up at all the sad faces. "She's not dead. She's still alive. I can feel it. We need to just track her down or something. She's alive. I know it. I failed to protect her… but she's still… alive…"

Erza grabbed Natsu's hand to comfort him and looked up to their Master. "Lucy is still alive. Natsu is right there. But if we are going to find her, we'll all have to work together. It would be an easy task."

Everyone smiled through their depressions. "We'll just have to find her!"

"She's d-d-d-definitely out th-there!" someone cried.

Natsu listened to their cheers, finding a new hope that he could find her. He had to.

The cold of metal hit his hand. Natsu looked up, then down, to see Erza putting something in his hand. "I was waiting for you to say something like that. Take good care of these until Lucy comes back."

He saw the shine of gold and silver. Her keys… He knew he could find her. Now he really had to.

'I'll find her. Lucy, I'll find you. I swear on my life that I'll find my Lucy!' he shook his head quickly at this though. He couldn't believe that he had just thought that. 'How many times is that now…? Three times? She's not… my… Lucy… She isn't… mine…"

* * *

**Hi. It's me, ZatsuneMiku1/Rebecca.**

**I hope you liked this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**It's not that great.**

**I was kinda rushing it, but... whatever. **

**I'm so sorry about Natsu... I really like characters that are in some sort of pain.**

**And hey... at least I didn't forget about Happy.**

**Anyways, you should review or favourite or something.**

**Reviews really make me happy... and then I make a really cool face like... "Yeah! ANOTHER COMMENT! ლ(́◉◞౪◟◉‵ლ)"**

**And when I get a favourite? "I actually... like... people... so much sometimes... (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ -insert a really funny yet awkward dance-"**

**So please do review and favourite.  
**

**By the by, I own nothing but the plot idea. :3 Just sayin'.**


	3. Chapter 3

Darkness… Still were her feet numb from all the walking and standing. She wasn't sure when she ate last or even the last time she saw the light, but it had been, at least, seven hours. And even so, she wasn't too sure. She could sense the presence of others, not sure who they were.

She had been in this complete darkness for a while, only knowing where to go due to a constant hand on her bare shoulder; the hand was so cold. Lucy couldn't believe that this was happening. She desperately wanted to know where Natsu was, why he hadn't come for her yet.

"How much for this one?" she hears some man say as she's pulled by her shoulder, letting out a slight moan in surprise.

"Pretty, ain't she?" another voice commented. "Worth quite a bit. Had most of my men taken out in the process! For you, however, I'll give to for… say two million jewels."

Silence. The first voice then said, "Fair enough."

The first man searched his coat until he found it. Lucy cried in fear when she heard the sound of gun magic. The man let out a scoff. "Two million, my ass. Hardly worth two hundred!"

She felt the tears coming along. The man stared at the girl. "Come on, Blondie. Let's get you unbound. I want to ask you questions."

Darkness to light, and like that, Lucy could suddenly see the moon. He had dark brown hair matched by his eyes. Not a blemish was visible on his face, not even that of a scar of sorts. He was beautiful. She had a lingering hope that things would be okay now.

A fiendish smile appeared on his face, but it didn't last long. He stared at her. "So what's your name?"

She refused to smile at him. Seeing his look now pushed fear slightly in her. She knew she had to lie. "… Lisa."

"Lisa?" He smiled at her now. "Cute. Well, come on."

He started to walk away, and Lucy was quick to follow. She didn't really want to talk, let alone follow, but she felt had but no other choice at the moment. Though there was that lingering hope, it was pushed away by his beauty and her fear.

They entered a lard house. It was the size of a small mansion, but she remained quiet. The entire ride there was silent aside from the random questions he would ask.

"Come along, Lisa." He said. She still was unaware of his name.

She looked up to see his small smile. Her mouth opened to speak, "So who are you?"

He looked at her for a second before continuing to lead her down the hall. She could hear a sigh escape his lips. "You call me Felix. Last names are unimportant at the moment."

Lucy nodded. "And you brought me here why?"

They entered a dark room, which he was quick to light up. The room was cold and there weren't any windows. The walls were as bland as stone. In the room, there was a single bed with a wooden frame; it was falling apart. A black and white dress was laid on top of the dull red blanket. A dresser was pushed poorly against the wall and a waste basket was next to it. There was a door on the other side of the room. The m ore she looked at it, the smaller the room seemed. It was smaller than her apartment; barely a sixth of the size.

Felix stared at Lucy, pushing her into the room. "You are my new maid. Get changed. There are things that need to be done around the house. After you clean the entire house, I want you to make my dinner and draw me a warm bath."

"What?" she asked softly. Her eyes were quick to meet his. "What if I refuse?"

His were full with a questioning look. "Then I'll kill you. Simple!"

Her own eyes widened in fear. Her fighting spirit was completely dead, it no longer existed. As far as she could see, there was no way she could escape. Tears ran down her cheek as she looked over at the dress. It was a terrible dress, from what she could see, but she didn't want the chance for death when she still wanted to believe that Natsu would come for her.

She slipped out of her ripped clothing and into the clean maid dress. The skirt was sort enough whereas even the smallest of movement would cause her panties to show. Even the top half was suggestive. It was slightly too tight, making her breast slightly bulge over the top of the white-laced low cut. She was disgusted with herself for looking like this.

She rubbed at her itchy eyes, looking towards the door that didn't lead out. She walked towards it, hoping for it to be a bathroom of all things. Happiness spread solemnly through her when she opened the door to a tub, toilet, sink, and mirror. She starred at the mirror. A girl was reflected in it. Her eyes were red and bruises were on her cheeks. She looked slightly gaunt, her blonde hair hung grossly down beside her. Lucy wasn't sure when the last time she took a bath was. She pulled the white ribbon that hung loosely and tied her hair up in a ponytail. Out of sight, out of mind.

She rubbed at her eyes again, wanting to wash her face. She turned on the sink, thankful for running water. She ran her hands under cold water and splashed it on her face. It felt so nice. Lucy patted the sides of her face and watched the water droplets slide down her face.

She jumped when a loud knock came from outside her door. "Come on, Lisa! We haven't got all day! I'm hungry, make my dinner. You can clean the house tomorrow instead."

'Lisa…?' she thought, 'That's right, I'm Lisa!'

A sigh escaped her lips as she exited the room. A smile was on his face when he saw her exit. He had threatened her, so she figured that it would be best just to go along with it for now. She could feel him staring at the bottom of her dress. She felt disgusted with herself again.

She managed to find her way around the house, and when she found the kitchen, she got set on making dinner. Her stomach started to growl, hunger hitting it's limit. Lucy figured that for now, it would be okay to eat small things. She snacked on small bits of cooked chicken and hurried to make some vegetables.

When she finished, she hurried to plate the meal and called Felix to dinner. He seated himself at the table and set the plate in front of him. She was quite satisfied with the quality of the meal. Lucy watched him look it over. He grabbed onto a knife and she shrieked in pain.

He yanked at her hair, pulling bit out and holding the knife to her neck. She shut her eyes tightly. She could hear him hiss out into her ear, "Next time I catch you snacking, I'll slit your throat."

Lucy stiffly nodded. She couldn't believe that he was threatening her just because she took some food. He pushed her away and told her to start his bath. Lucy hurried off to start the water. As she broke away, she just couldn't stop the tears.

"Damn it all, Natsu." Lucy cried as her hand hit a wall to steady herself. "Where the hell are you? Why haven't you come for me yet?"

She drew up a warm bath for Felix, noticing the nice things he had in his bathroom. The mirror was encased in gold and was so very nicely kept. She noticed her there in the mirror and was, once more, filled with disgust. She frowned at herself and wiped her eyes. She tried to put on a smile, but itw as gross. She couldn't stand to look at herself.

Her eyes trailed over to a window, which was also fairly beautiful, striking an idea. 'I don't think this guy had brought me here as a guest. If I want to get back to Fairy Tail, then I've got to get out. So long as he is still eating, I should be able to make my escape.'

She figured that the sooner she escaped the better. Popping out the window, she slid her body through. Putting the window back was harder than she thought it was going to be and when she heard noises coming from the house, she pulled it quickly into place. She ran as fast as her body would allow of her, tripping only once.

Lucy ran towards the town. She wasn't sure where she was so her best bet was to ask for directions lest she wander around helplessly. It took a good five or ten minutes to get there, though Lucy felt as though it took much longer. The houses were all cramped together. Stands of all sorts of things were placed about every two houses. The people all looked friendly enough, but Lucy searched out an old lady who seemed to know the way.

"E-Excuse me, Ma'am." Lucy said, gaining the attention of the old lady. When she received a smile, she continued, "Do you know the way to Magnolia?"

The old lady smiled further and pointed in a general direction. Lucy thanked her and was quick on her feet to get away. She didn't want to know how he would react when he found she was missing. And more importantly, she didn't to be recaptured. Lucy looked back; nothing there. She thanked the heavens, the land on which they all lived, everything. She thanked it all for letting her escape.

Not paying any attention, Lucy tripped on a rock and plummeted headfirst down a steep hill. Her head was smacked against several logs of wood and rocks as she tried to stop herself. When she did stop, disbelief hit Lucy along with searing pain. She writhed in pain, cursing softly as she brought herself to rest against a tree.

She just needed to rest. She needed to shut her eyes, so much had happened after all. She told herself that as the darkness swallowed her, as the light trickle of blood managed down her face.

* * *

**Hi hi. Sorry I took so long. And I'm so sorry it's so short. I was being rushed by some people. OTL But I wasn't sure just how I wanted to write this chapter. Felix... Well, that's the name of her 'master'. It was originally just there, but then I was too lazy to change it and find a better name. sorry.**


	4. Chapter 4

Natsu stiffened. Even with everyone in the guild helping, it was extremely hard to find any information on the Dark Guild who stole their Lucy. Even Levy was having a hard time finding information. It was almost as if the guild had been completely quiet and nothing ever happened.

Natsu slammed his book on the table, gaining himself the attention of practically every guild member. Throwing his hands into the air, he shouted out, "Why am I here reading? I should be out with Erza and Gray gathering info in the town and at the crime scene! I should be out there, not here!"

Mira patted him softly on the head. "You can't. You are still recovering. And we don't know how you'll react if you hear something you don't like."

"Something I don't like?" Natsu roared. "Like what?"

"Like…" Mira trailed off. She didn't want to tell Natsu that there was a possibility of their favourite blonde's death, but she didn't want to lie either. "Like if something bad happened to her."

"What do you mean, Mira?" Natsu started. "Nothing bad happened to Luce, right? She's okay, right? I know she is. She has to be!"

The pink-haired boy started to get hysterical at this point. Knowing that she could be in danger because of him had made him that way. Ever since everyone agreed to help, he had been like that. If he just so heard a whisper that something might have already happened to her, he'd start calling things his fault and then go on about how she had to be alive, just had to be. If they were lucky, he'd calm down fairly quickly. If not, then Natsu could cause some serious damage just as fast.

Mira grabbed Natsu's shoulders carefully. "Of course she is fine. Lucy is perfectly safe. I'm sure wherever she is, she'd being taken good care of."

She watched as his face softened once more. The pink-haired boy never smiled anymore, as far as everyone was aware. He only had two emotions since he came back: hysterical and sadness. Rage was never really on his face either, it was rare. But no one wanted to be around when it finally showed up.

Natsu calmed down quickly, turning his sad attention back down to his notes and books. He just wanted to see her smiling face again. The Fire Dragon Slayer stood up from his table and grabbed all his papers. He said to Mira, "I'm going now. If you see Happy, tell him that I'll be at Lucy's place."

Mira nodded and watched the boy take his leave. He and Happy had gotten in a fight. Not only was Natsu blaming himself for not protecting her, but Happy too for the same reason. This had created a crevice in the relationship between the two. They were ignoring each other now. That was one of the days he got really hysterical.

Mira could still see it; Natsu blaming himself, then turning on Happy. Natsu got so bad that he accidentally burnt the end of Happy's tail, and then cowered into a corner. Happy was just scared. He wanted to talk to Natsu and help him through this. He wanted to comfort the boy, but he was just too scared now.

Alzack's voice broke Mirajane from her trance. Now that Natsu had gone, he could speak his mind about all this. "He really has gone crazy. I hate to say it, but what if we are too late? What if she'd already dead or seriously hurt?"

"Don't talk like that!" Mira was quick to say. "Natsu thinks she is safe, so she has to be. Besides, how would you feel if Bisca was the one missing? You'd want us all helping you find her, right?"

Alzack couldn't believe that his words were turned against him. He looked over at Bisca, just trying hard not to think of how he would be in this situation. "Yeah. I guess."

"Well then don't judge him. He's trying his best."

"But we don't even have proof she'd alive." Mira heard Cana say.

"We don't have proof she's dead either!"

"And we most certainly don't have proof she's safe. We are running in circles."

"Well we can't give up hope! If one of us were missing, Lucy would most definitely do everything in her power to help!" Mira argued. "We can't just give up hope yet! Lucy is still alive and I'm more than positive that she's safe!"

"Guys…"

Everyone turned to a particular blue-haired girl whose nose was stuck in a book. Her eyes flashed up for a moment. "I think I found something."

* * *

Natsu threw his body onto Lucy's bed, taking in the smell of her, though it was now starting to fade. He took in long deep breaths. He didn't want to forget her smell. Not now, or really ever. His problem now was that her scent was fading. It was starting to smell more like himself. He reached under her pillow and pulled out her keys.

He figured that this was the safest place for them aside from keeping them with himself. He ran each key sadly beneath his fingers, trying his best to remember her using them. Trying to remember what she said and how she held them. His fingers lingered over the last, the gate to Leo the lion, before he set the keys back under her pillow with a sigh.

In one quick movement, Natsu sat back up on the bed and looked around the room. He had so many memories here of her yelling at him to get out. And even now, he swore he could see a figment of her telling him to get out. He ignored it and laid back down on his back. His eyes trailed on the ceiling for a second before he allowed them to shut, swallowing himself into the darkness.

* * *

Natsu's eyes widened. He could not believe as to what it was he was hearing. Just the idea of finally finding Lucy, it was outstanding. He demanded, "Tell me more."

Levy sighed. "Well I'm not one hundred percent sure she'll be there. I could be wrong."

"I'm prepared to take the chance!" Natsu states loudly.

* * *

Natsu went back through his thoughts and traced over the things Levy had told him. She told him about this guy named Felix who had been seen associating himself with the Dark Guild before. If this was true, Natsu could be so close to finally finding her.

And so there he was. There he was outside of this pleasant looking house. Natsu's hand hesitated to knock. He so desperately wanted to see her again, but there was also the possibility that she wasn't there. And if she had been there, her scent probably wouldn't be there any more depending on when she left. Natsu let out a sigh and managed to knock on the door. It was a soft knock at first, but gradually got louder.

He was nervous to finally have the chance to see her again, if she was even there. And if not, he could always count on Levy to find another lead. A couple minutes passed before the door opened. The man Levy described stood there, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

With a sigh, he said, "Can I help you?"

Natsu pushed his eyes passed the man before looking at him straight. "I'm lokoing for someone. And I was hoping that you might know something or perhaps have seen her somewhere."

"Well spit out a description and I'll try to remember."

His hand tightened around her keys. "She's blonde with bangs. She likes to put her hair into a side ponytail."

Natsu grabbed and pulled up some of his hair with his free hand. "Like this. Oh. And she has chocolate brown eyes. As I've heard my cat say before, she's very busty. And she always smells so nice. But she's very pretty and upbeat. Her name is Lucy."

His words trailed off there as the man named Felix searched his memory. The man shook his head. "No. I don't recall seeing anyone like that."

"Really?" Natsu asked, putting his hand up to stop the door from closing. "She was recently, what my guild believes, in servitude. Perhaps a maid of sorts? Are you sure you haven't seen her?"

Felix raised his eyebrow again. "If it makes you feel better, you can search my house. I'm sure you know by now that I like to have a maid, but at the moment, my home is empty. And I assure you that you won't find a single trace of myself lying."

The pink-haired boy pushed his way through the doorway. "We'll see about that."

The boy searched through every room, every corner, but he couldn't find a single clue. Not even her smell was present. But there was still a chance. He stood in front of the door of the one room he hadn't searched. If she was in this house, she'd be there.

The fire mage opened the door to a bland, falling apart room. It really looked like it hadn't been used in years and even smelled of mold and musk. Still, Natsu searched every crack he could.

"Are you quite satisfied yet?" Felix asked. He had followed Natsu everywhere.

The colour ran from the boy's face. He couldn't even find a reason to suspect Felix let alone say he was hiding her. "I guess I am."

Felix nodded and walked the pink-haired boy to the door. Natsu turned solemnly to the man. "I'm sorry to have bothered you."

Felix nodded again and shut the door. Anger was obvious on his face when he turned away. To think that that little bitch was more trouble than what she was worth. To be honest, he already knew her name wasn't actually Lisa, but really Lucy, but he didn't say anything. She was his prize. He owned her.

He turned down a hall and pulled a not-so-obvious lever the boy hadn't noticed. The floor turned until steps were visible. And to think that she had tried to escape. He was so lucky when he found her passed out. And he was so lucky when he decided to delete any sign of her presence, even bothering to delete her scent from the rooms.

Felix smiled to himself when he saw her again. She was tied to a wheel by her hands and feet and she was naked. He had stripped her just so that she had to feel the cold of the basement. Still she slept. He pulled at a knife on his table and flung it at her head. The knife missed only by a few inches, but the sound of the knife woke her. Her eyes shot open, fear locked tightly in them.

* * *

Hey guys. What's up? Sorry I took so long to update. I do have a lot of school work to do. Plus I have some twenty other stories I need to work on. So I may be a bit slow with chapters. But hey... that's life. Still, I'm so sorry I took so long. And I know it isn't a long chapter... But I do hope you enjoyed it. I kinda finished it up last night and rushed with words and all that. Plus I hand write everything first then type it because then I can work in class. So yeah. Reviews are what I love. If you haven't favourited the story yet, you should do that. I'll love you forever if you. So yeah. Review review review. And I'll see you guys again in the next chapter. Bye bye


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy sighed contently as Natsu set his hand over hers. She really was much happier with him around. And the best part was, there wasn't anyone around to bother them. They looked slowly over at each other, the same feelings showing in both of their eyes.

She unknowingly leaned in a little closer. A frown appeared when he backed away. She whispered softly to him, "Natsu? What's wrong?"

The pink-haired boy's eyes widened for a second, his teeth slightly showing past his parted lips, before they shut tightly. He pressed his lips tightly upon hers, surprise hitting her with great speed as his heat spread throughout her body. The heat ran thoroughly from her lips down to her lower groin back up to her head. She felt so lightheaded.

His lips began to move over hers and her eyes shut as she moved with him. He pulled away soon after, staring her straight in the eye. His eyebrows pushed together and she couldn't help but see his worry. Her lips slowly parted in confusion. "Natsu?"

Natsu's hands reached out and pulled her hands close to him. His eyes shut and he shook his head, his pink truffles of hair going every which way. His eyes now held sadness. His mouth opened to speak, but his voice came out weak, surely this wasn't normal. If this was happening, something terrible, something so bad that it was hurting him so much, must have happened. "Don't worry, Luce, I'm coming for you. Put all your trust in me, because I'll find you."

She gave him a more than confused look as his body started to disappear from sight. A loud bang sounded in, or rather next to, her ear, forcing her eyes to shut in fear. When the blonde's eyes reopened, that beautiful scenery she was just in vanished from sight and changed into a black, cold room. The only lights she could really see now were the dim light of a couple torches.

Her eyes trailed over to the middle of the room. A man stood there, but she couldn't recognize him well. He stepped closer to her. Brown hair hung flatly on the man's head. Lucy tried to pull back in fear, but found she couldn't move. Her eyes frantically ran up to her arms, then down to her legs only to find herself not only tied up, but also completely exposed. Her eyebrows turned up in fear as she noticed the knife stuck on the board behind her and so very close to her head.

The man stepped closer to her, knife in hand. Felix ran his fingers over the tip of the blade, careful not to cut himself. He pulled himself even closer still. His eyes trailed up over her naked body with a frown. "Why did you try to escape?"

She stayed silent as he grabbed her face with his free hand and trailed his thumb over her bottom lip. The knife was placed upon her cheek lightly. Still she remained silent. Felix removed his hand from her face and pressed his lips against hers when he received no answer. She managed to stop herself from reacting and instead sent death glares at him.

He pressed harder against her, forcing her lips to open and shoving his tongue into her mouth. When still no reaction came, he pulled away with a sigh. He removed the knife from her cheek and set it into his other hand. "You really are no fun."

Lucy lowered her eyes, now refusing to even look at him. His hand was quick to make contact with her cheek. Her head was forced to the side. Her eyes widened and lips parted. Tears started to form and fell silently down.

"Oh?" Felix turned his body to look her in the face. "Are you crying?"

The blonde girl continued to look away. She fixated her stare on a crack on the floor. Felix frowned. A sharp pain formed in Lucy's right hand, forcing her to scream. Her eyes searched frantically for the reason. A knife.

Her eyes ran quickly to Felix's hands. Missing was the blade he had set on her cheek not too long ago. The tears ran much faster now, blurring her sight as she looked back up at the knife which pierced her hand.

Felix scoffed. "Gosh. That really must hurt. Well, I wouldn't really know. Besides, you deserve it."

Lucy turned a death glare up at him.

He laughed soundly. "Now that's a scary look."

Felix brought his face close again. He licked her cheek and with a soft voice, he said, "I like to hear you scream. Of course, if you beg for my forgiveness, I'll let you return to just being my maid again rather than having you locked up down here."

Lucy gathered a bit of saliva and spat in his face. The warmth of blood trickled slowly down her arm as he took in what happened. With one free hand, he worked at grabbing the knife from next to her head. And with the other hand, he wiped at his face.

"You bitch." he muttered.

Lucy let out another scream as blood now began to leak down her leg. Her body squirmed, writhing in pain. The tears fell even rapider down her cheeks and onto her exposed breasts. Some blood trailed down her stomach as he worked out a small yet large gash on her lower breast. Lucy cried out, her screams louder now than ever before.

"Natsu!" she cried, "Natsu, where are you? Why haven't you come for me yet? Natsu!"

Felix pulled away, but she continued to scream. "You promised you'd come for me! Where are you?"

Even without the knife, she felt as if she was still being cut. Her voice began to die out now. Her throat ached from her sobs. She just wanted it all to end now. "You promised me you'd find me… So where are you? You… promised."

Lucy's head hung low in depression. There was no reason for him to have not found her by now. It had only been a week since she had originally gone missing, so where was he? Her tears stopped all together.

The man sighed. "So that boy was your friend, eh, Luce?"

Her eyes still hung low. The man frowned. "That's too bad. You just missed him. You know who I'm talking about, right? That boy with the weird pink hair. The one who's childish and smells a lot like smoke and charcoal."

Her eyes widened slightly even as they hid behind her bangs. He could see this reaction and with a smirk, he continued, "What did you say his name was? Natsu?

"Whatever. He'll never be coming back." Felix shrugged, walking slowly away from the girl. "He couldn't even find reason to suspect you were here, even after he searched the house."

Felix let out a loud chuckle. "Well, if you ever change your mind about being my maid, all you have to do is beg for forgiveness."

He exited the room, leaving Lucy by herself once more. A single tear fell from her face and her lips parted; saliva trailed from the top of her mouth to the bottom in a single strand. Her eyes widened further. "He came for me? And he just left like that because he couldn't find proof?"

Her chocolate eyes trailed over her wounds. "That doesn't sound like something my Natsu would do. Something must be off in his head."

Lucy's eyes widened further as she remembered what Felix had said. Not only that, but he had called her 'Luce'. Definitely not a nickname for someone named Lisa. That could only mean that her cover had been blown by Natsu. She swore at herself, then at him. "Why can't you just burst this place down and break me out? I'm down here, you idiot. Obviously you didn't look hard enough."

* * *

The pink-haired boy trudges back into the guild. He was still so badly injured, but he didn't want to wait to find the blonde girl, so he took off without any thoughts on his wellbeing. Now he regretted it, the pain was great, far greater than it should have been.

He took a seat at a lone table by himself. Placing his arms on the table, he set his head down and shut his tired eyes. This solitude didn't last long as Erza and Gray took a seat beside him. Natsu lifted his head slowly, eyeing each of them somberly. "Yo."

Gray nodded at him, but Erza opened her mouth to speak. She pounded her armored fist onto the table. "Why did you go to that man's house alone? You should have waited for us to get back! The three of us could have done a far better job finding Lucy then you on your own!"

"I wanted to find her as soon as possible." Natsu mumbled out.

"We all want to find her! You should have just waited for us!" she yelled.

His eyes widened at this and he slammed both fists and arms on the table. His headshot straight up. "You don't understand! None of you do!"

A table behind him immediately caught fire, gaining him the entire guild's attention. "You don't understand what this is like! I told her I'd protect her! I promised her that!"

His eyes trailed down to his shaking fists as his vision blurred slightly. "I promised her that."

Natsu's voice got soft and weak. "And I…I failed her…"

* * *

Hey. What's up everyone. I got another chapter up ALREADY! It's weird. I finished it yesterday. But was far too tired. But I hope you guys liked this chapter even if I feel like I rushed it a bit. I probably should have taken my time. Whatever. The next chapter probably won't be up in a couple weeks anyways.  
So if you like my story thus far, you should favourite it, if you haven't already, and comment. I get so excited when I get another review. I read them over and over again and roll around on my bed because I'm far too excited.  
Um... If you have any ideas or suggestions, I'll listen to them. I'm always looking for new ideas. Besides, I like talking to people. And hell, if I like your idea enough, I might surprise you by putting it in the next chapter. I don't even know what I'm going to do! So suggestions and ideas are great. (Plus your ideas probably make much more sense than mine do!) (You can always talk to me on Quotev, I like it there. ZatsuneMiku1 and it would be much easier to talk to me, I think.)  
My friend and I were talking... and this is really random... but I almost want to do another story about Juvia and Gray. And this all spawned off of "Juvia ran into the water solemnly. 'Juvia just wants to die! Juvia is going to drown herself!' Gray laughed at Juvia for a second before he rubbed his neck awkwardly, 'Juvia... You can't drown yourself, your body is made out of water!' 'Juvia wants to drown herself!'"  
And so that because our joke for the day. NO JUVIA. YOU CAN'T DROWN YOURSELF... LITERALLY. Gosh. I'm so lame. Anyways, so yeah. Read and review~


	6. Chapter 6

Natsu looked up at Erza solemnly. "And I... I failed her."

His hands reached up and gripped the sides of his face. When tears started to fall, he stared at his shaking hands, or rather he tried to. He lips parted and he sniffled slightly. His bottom lip began to quiver. "It's all my fault she's missing."

Erza reached out and set a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It isn't your fault, and no one is blaming you."

* * *

He crouched and wraps his arms around his legs. A few more tables set fire behind him. Natsu rests his head on his knees, tears still falling. "It's my fault she's missing."

A couple days has passed since Lucy originally denied Felix's idea. Though she really had no idea as to how long she had been trapped down there, she tried her best to pass the time by trying her luck at the ropes.

Lucy sighed, she had lost a bit of weight since since she originally came there, but that was all her fault. Even now, as Felix is trying to feed her, she refuses the food. She can tell, even without seeing, that her ribs are beginning to show due to lack of food, but the time down there had given her a plethora of time to think. And she had decided that she'd rather starve to death than allow him to feed her.

Her stomach growled loudly as she sent another death glare up at Felix. He sighed and set the spoon of soup back into the bowl. He reached out and rubbed the back of his hand on her cheek. She didn't bother to resist. "I wish you'd have something to eat."

Lucy attempted to wet her died lips. Her eyes now lazily looked up at him. His eyebrows were pushed together into a look of worry. She opened her dry mouth to speak. "Not if your feeding me."

"Fine then." He pouted, setting the soup onto the floor. Felix managed his way behind her. He sighed again. "When I untie your arms, hold on to stabilize yourself."

Her eyes widened. She could only managed a small, stiff nod. He worked at freeing her arms and when she found herself able to actually move her hands, she smiled, her lips cracking from the somewhat unfamiliar thing, and braced herself. He crouched down next to her and slipped a chain around her ankle.

She peered down at him, but he just shrugged. "Can't let my prize escape now."

Lucy frowned as she was finally released, sort of. As she was released, she fell the few inches that had kept her from touching the floor. Her legs gave out right away as she tried to stand. She couldn't do much as she crouched on the floor. Lucy lazily stared down at her dirty hands. A tear fell onto the back of her hand, but even the tear couldn't wash away at the grime.

Felix sighed behind her. "There. Now will you please eat something?"

Lucy glanced over at the bowl and managed to grab onto it. She brought the spoon up to her lips. It was a simple soup flavoured with what seemed to be onions and maybe garlic, but Lucy managed it all down fast. Then the thought struck as to the fact he could have done something to it.

He smiled down at her, but she eyes him up. "There! Doesn't it taste good?"

"Why did you let me down?" she was quick to ask. "How do you know I won't try to kill you?"

Felix shrugged. "You're harmless. You can't kill me."

Lucy took this time to push all her weight onto him. He was knocked over and she managed her hands around his neck. She didn't squeeze though, her hands wouldn't allow it no matter much her head was telling her it was for the best.

He stared her down, not bothering to do it. "Go ahead. Go ahead and kill me."

She frowned and pulled her hands back towards herself. He frowned. "You can't, can you?"

Lucy simply nodded and crawled away from him. Felix stood up and brushed off any dirt. He didn't worry about her, she was even in the middle of the room, she couldn't do much. The most he was concerned with was self harm. He cleared his throat. "If you behave yourself, I'll make you better food than just soup."

Footsteps sounded, then a shutting door.

Lucy looked around the room. She was still very much cold and naked, but now she could at least hug herself. And even though the ground was cold and slightly wet, she was glad she didn't have to be tied up any more.

She got onto her side and rested her head on her arm. Her legs were pulled up to her chest and rested her other arm around them. A chill ran up and her spine, her knees cramped in pain from not moving in so long.

The blonde shut her eyes and sighed softly to herself. "Natsu... Are you even bothering to come after me any more?"

* * *

Slowly did she drift off to sleep.

Solemn sadness has taken over everyone. Everyday is dreary, everyday is rainy, most likely due to Juvia's sadness that Gray is always so preoccupied to spend much time paying attention to her, but none is exactly for sure why. All is quiet. There hasn't been a disruption in a long time. Sometimes, a person would leave for a mission, if only to escape the awkward air always so present in the guild.

Everyone knew why it was so quiet though. Quite a bit of them actually gave up on the search for Lucy, they just didn't want to be disappointed once more. The people who haven't given up were down to a select few of Levy, Erza, and Natsu. Even Gray started giving up hope.

And though Natsu was still searching, even he was losing some hope. None had seen the pink-haired boy in so long aside from Erza, who would visit him at his home to bring food. All he did was lazily sigh and lay about. It was rare, for those few who saw him, for him to actually get up and move.

Today was of the same stature. Happy walked up to the lying boy and tapped his shoulder. He said, with a small, fake smile, "Natsu, let's go outside and so something. It'll be fun!"

Natsu rolled away from the blue exceed. "Not now, Happy. Maybe tomorrow."

"That's what you said yesterday." Happy complained sadly.

The boy turned his head towards his cat. "I'm sorry. Just..."

He let out a sigh. "Just not now."

"When?" Happy inquired.

"I don't know." he replied. "I just want to be alone for now."

The cat sighed and turned away. "Aye..."

He made his way to the door, turning back only once to look over at his friend. He exited, leaving the boy by himself.

* * *

Natsu sat up and set his right hand on his head, fingers reaching up to his bangs. "I'm sorry, Luce. I just can't seem to find you anywhere."

Yet another month passed. Still no sign of anyone coming for the blonde.

Lucy brought her hand up to her mouth as she coughed. A shiver ran up and down her spine, leaving goosebumps, then she sneezed. She was sick, but couldn't do anything about it. She was constantly feeling weak and light headed, but she was also cold. Still, even with a fever, Felix didn't seem to care enough to give her even a blanket. Or so she thought he didn't care.

Undergarments, shorts, and a shirt long enough to be a nightgown were thrown to her side. Felix sighed and unclasped her. "Hurry up and put these on. Then I'll get you some medicine."

Lucy fumbled with the clothing as she put it on. It was itchy, not something she was used to, but she was grateful that he at least cared somewhat. With a frown, she spoke slowly to Felix, even works were starting to become unfamiliar. "I... I think I'd prefer to be your maid."

He eyes her up and down. "That offer died a long time ago. If anything, you are now my slave."

Lucy's heart was quick to drop. Felix noticed this. "I'm not keeping you down here any more though. You'll be taken back to your old room. Your chains will be connected to the bed. But you'll be able to access the bathroom."

"Why?" she asked, her heart trying to piece itself back together as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

Felix shrugged. "If you are sick, then this is really the worst place for you. Plus you really need a bath."

She sighed and pushed herself off the floor. This was really the first time she'd walk in two whole months. She stumbled slightly with each step, but that didn't stop her. Felix held onto the end of her chains and led her up a flight of steps. He had to walk slowly as she tried her way on her feet. She looked back only once. The room that was her prison just seemed so dreary, even now.

She was led to her old room and chained to her bed by her leg. Lucy found that her chains reached far enough to go inside the bathroom, but she couldn't close the door. Felix left while Lucy was staring herself down in the mirror.

There was no way this girl was her. Her face was caked with layers of grime and sweat. Her hair hung dead alongside her face. Her lips were chapped and ripped, her eyes lacking the colour and excitement she once possessed. Even her cheeks looked dead. She looked greasy and gross.

Lucy shook her head and slipped off her new found shirt and bra. She wasn't entirely sure how she'd shower when she couldn't completely take off her shorts, so she pulled them down and kept them on the chain. She managed a hot shower, trying her best to wash off all the dirt, trying her best to ignore the pain coming from the cuts she had received a while back. Lucy actually wasn't sure how long she had been in there, as far as she knew, it had only been two months, but now she just couldn't help but smile.

'Now,' she figured, 'I just have to find a way to escape again. I just have to figure out how to get off these chains. I already know which way to not run. Just have to find a way out.'

* * *

_**Hey guys. What's up?**_  
_** I'm gonna be honest here... I really hate this chapter... I just wrote it to pass time and to set up the next part of the plot, other than that, I really hate it.**_  
_** But if you don't, then feel free to review.**_  
_** Eh... I just thought about it a little while ago, but don't ask me what Lucy does about the bathroom. I feel like she has a bucket... but when she's actually tied up... I just... no. Don't ask.**_  
_** :I**_  
_** So... Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I disliked writing it... haha...**_  
_** Um... yeah. I'll try to upload the next chapter soon.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_:D Hi guys. I don't normally talk up here before a chapter... but I am today. So... this chapter is actually a little bit longer, yeah? I'm excited. OTL Not really. But whatever. I just wanted to thank you all for following and reading and, for some, reviewing my story. It means a lot to me. It makes me think that I don't completely suck at writing. Anyways, I'm just going to answer the three reviews I got on the last chapter. xD So if you reviewed, you can look for my answer... if not, you can still read it... or you can skip completely down to the actual chapter. xD_

_So first... Cat Goliath! I like you. I can always count on you to review, and it makes me happy. Honestly, your reviews make me laugh. Even when I make stupid mistakes, they make me laugh. About Felix... well, I couldn't think of an actual name for my "bad guy" character. So I named him Felix. Felix is also the name of my character in Tears, my other story that I have posted on Quotev. Um.. that character is Felix VonDulhn. Well, I think when I was writing, I think I accidentally kept thinking about that Felix... so this Felix ended up being a bit of a softy. In the long run, he really was supposed to be mean. But it didn't come out that way. OTL And as for him wanting Lucy? I don't even know... I haven't actually decided yet... :I Sorry. And I understand the last chapter wasn't your favourite. I didn't really like it either. But I just wrote it to keep going on with my story... just to have a little more plot and to get to this point. OTL I just didn't want to wait. Anyways, thank you so much for all the nice reviews.  
_

_Kitsune-Dark-Knight~ Uh... Thank you for reviewing. I appreciate it! Ahahahahahahahaha... ha... Sorry... I... I still don't plan on making Felix and Lucy be a couple. OTL I think I might be taking things a little too far if I do that. OTL Sorry. But I did think about it. I really did. It turned out weird in my head. OTL_

_1Maddie-chan23 : :D HAI! Here is your update. I like you, I really do. Your comments also make me laugh and giggle in glee. I thought I'd only be getting TWO comments. THEN YOU COMMENTED! I must say, I really did roll on my bed and giggled in joy. Then I got too excited and started smacking my head off the wall. Ended up rolling off my bed and landing on my clarinet case... It hurt. But it was worth it. Thank you so so so so so SO much for liking this and commenting. I hope you enjoy the next chapter._

_AND NOW TO THE CHAPTER! I HOPE I DIDN'T TALK TO MUCH! THANK YOU ALL FOR THE NICE REVIEWS!_

* * *

The blonde girl sits on her bed, blanket wrapped tightly around her cold self. She had been given a nice meal of chicken. Even if she was still under the control of Felix, she couldn't help but think he wasn't actually a bad person. Perhaps he was just lonely.

Perhaps he just wanted company. Lucy pulls her legs closer to her body, her chains jingle. With a sigh, she took a couple more bites of her food. She didn't even know why she was still being kept there. She wasn't aware as to why he wanted her, of all people. What was so special about her, Lucy Heartfilia?

* * *

Her teeth clanked against something hard. It was her teeth. Lucy was quick to pull it out. It was a small bone. She looked it over. Surely Felix wouldn't be so careless as to accidentally leave it in her meal, would he? Lucy shrugged and put it under her pillow, ideas for escape popping soundlessly into her head.

A girl of red hair, more commonly known as Erza Scarlet, paces outside her friend's house. It's been a week since she had last visited this friend, but last time she left, her friend was too sad, too tired to even notice her presence.

Erza was just concerned about her friend. It was true that since a certain blonde disappeared, he hadn't exactly been the same, but this really only made Erza want to help. After all, being this down went completely against his personality. Still, she didn't know exactly how to react to his sudden weakness. She could either be too rough or far too soft, either way could and would end poorly.

She paced outside his door, periodically letting out a soft sigh. It was now or never. She could walk in and demand he came with her to look for the girl, their friend, or leave things as is and he could just swallow his sadness. Erza stopped completely, swallowed down her doubts, and knocked on the door.

It was a short while before the red-head was allowed in by a certain blue cat.

Happy looked up at the girl with a frown. Erza tired her best to smile. "How is he?"

"No better than last time you were over." Happy sighed.

Erza frowned and stepped into the house, managing to find her way to the boy. He was just how he always was, on the floor, eyes shut, breathing slow. She sadly looked down at the boy. True, he was still blaming himself, but it wasn't necessarily his fault the girl was missing.

Erza knelt down next to him and set her hand onto his shoulder. No reaction was permitted so instead, Erza's eyes trailed over the papers surrounding the boy's body. She tried her best at a smile again. "How goes the research? Find anything yet?"

He shook his head in denial. Erza let out a soft sigh and went to sitting beside the boy, rather than kneeling. "Well, you tell me if you find something."

The boy turns away, creating an even more awkward air. Erza tried her best to ignore it and rubs her armoured hand through his soft pink truffles of hair. Her eyes shut, trying to think of what would be the best think to say. Before she got to speak, he opens his mouth.

"Do you think she's still safe?" he inquires.

Erza is taken aback by his question. "What do you mean, Natsu?"

He shrugs and opens one eyes to stare her down.

Erza rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. "Well, yeah. I do think she's still safe. She's probably hiding right under our noses, we just don't know it yet, but she's most definitely safe."

Natsu closes his eye again. "I just don't know any more. We've been apart for so long that I'm forgetting her smile. Even her scent is dying."

The red-hear shakes her head. "Well then, you'll just have to do a better job of remembering until we find her."

He sits up and faces her, both eyes open now. "But what if we don't find her? We've already searched everywhere."

"I think..." Erza begins, "That we just have to go back to some of our older information. Maybe there is something we missed. Like, what if she's really at that Felix-person's home?"

"Impossible." Natsu is quick to say, his shoulders dropping. "I already searched there. She isn't there."

"That was several months ago though. Besides, what if you missed something?" Erza states. "I think it's worth a shot to look again."

Natsu frowns further at the girl. "I don't exactly understand why you think you'll find her there when I already looked, but if you go, I'll go."

Erza shrugs. "It's a possibility and worth a shot."

The pink-haired boy rolls back down onto the floor. "Great. Then we'll leave in two days. I need to get situated with a few things before we go."

* * *

She nods and stands up, leaving the boy on his own. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the missing blonde's keys. He looks them over. "I'm sorry I haven't found you yet, Luce."

Her lips pucker in frustration, her eyes stare intensely, her fingers work as well as they can. Twisting, turning, the girl's been working for what felt like hours without a break. She'd read in a multitude of books of this escape method, but she just couldn't get it.

The blonde rubs back her bangs with her hand, mostly gibing up on her escape. She let out a sigh, closing her eyes as she exhaled. Lucy frowns and tosses her hands down in defeat. "This is hopeless! It's always much easier to do in books!"

She lays on her back on her bed. The ceiling is cracked, so she can't help but trace it with her eyes as she has done so many times before. Lucy sighs again and manages to pictures Natsu one last time. She can see his pink truffles of hair, his wide grin, and even his scarf. She can hear him as he calls out to her.

Lucy smiles and reaches out to him, her vision so quickly disappearing when she closes her hand around his. Her eyes widen, then shut in frustration. It was that moron's fault that she was in this situation.

The blonde rolls onto her side. "Whatever."

Her chocolate eyes shut again in anger. It's all his fault she was there, and now all she could do was try her best to free herself with a stupid chicken bone and a sharpened rock. "Felix really isn't a bad guy though. I wonder why he tries to seem it."

She rolled onto her other side when her hip began to ache. "He can't be completely bad. He did let me back up into this room, after all.

"Whatever." Lucy sits back up and tries her luck with the lock again.

Click!

The sound echoes in the girl's ears. Bewilderment. She just cannot believe it actually worked. Her lips turn up into a smile and part slightly. An ankle manages to slip it's way out through the cold chains. Surprise.

Lucy looks around the room, her heart beating fast. She needed to get out of there. She needed to escape.

There was a click of a door. Her heart dropped. "No. There is still time!"

Blonde locks flail as she shakes her head before lying on the bed, covers up. She manages to lock back on the chains, but not completely. Lucy makes sure that when the time came, she could just as easily slip it off. Her eyes shut tightly; Lucy is now pretending to sleep, her heart returning to a somewhat normal pace.

Felix walks in with a sigh, it's obvious he wanted to speak with her. But he doesn't leave. The man sits on the side of her bed, staring her down. Lucy can feel heat rise up her face, but refuses to let it show. Slowly does she pretend to wake up until her chocolate eyes stare into his deep brown orbs.

He frowns. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Lucy shakes her head at him. "I was only taking a nap."

"Oh." Felix averts his eyes. "I just came to tell you that I'm going out a bit. Going shopping, you see. So I came to see if you needed more soap or anything."

Lucy shakes her head again as he removes himself from her bed. He's just about to reach the door when she calls out to him again. "Hey."

He looks back at h er to signal her to go on.

"Um..." she trails off as she looks awkwardly around the room. "Well, you actually seem fairly nice. So I was wondering why you are trying to be the bad guy. I mean, it doesn't really fit your character."

Felix shrugs. "I could tell you, but I don't want to. It's a long, boring story."

Lucy frowns. "Well then, why do you want me?"

He ignores her.

She sighs. "I've never once heard anyone come into your house since I came here. You don't seem to get mail either. Are you just lonely?"

Felix steps closer to her. His hand smacks her as he keeps his gaze away from the girl. "Stop asking so many questions. It's none of your business."

He trudges to the door. "I'll be back in a couple hours. Try not to have too much fun."

Lucy watches as he leaves and waits a few minutes to make sure he won't return before slipping off the chain. She tiptoes to the door as silently as possible. This was just the chance she had been looking for. It was now or never.

She peeks her head out the door to look for any sign of him before stepping completely out. Walking is an almost new experience on it's own as she manages her way out the house.

Lucy looks down the street in the direction of the town. She can see Felix walking, his hands in his pants pockets. The blonde can't help but smile as she turns the other way. This way leads directly into a forest, but at this point, she doesn't care.

It's slow at first as she feels each stone under her feet, until she is finally running, just feelings the wind in her hair. Tears run down her face in joy as she starts to slow her pace. She doesn't want to be caught again, she'd have to do everything in her power to prevent it.

* * *

No resting until she's far enough. Not until she reaches the next town over, no matter how long it takes.

Felix returns home after what seems to be hours. His hands are full with things he bought and his wallet seems much lighter now.

He picks out what he bought for his Lucy and skips to her room. He doesn't knock, but instead barges right in. "I got you some rose scented soaps!"

She is no where in sight. Felix sets the soaps onto the table and takes a closer look. "Lucy?"

A chain once leading to something important now leads to nothingness. Felix scowls and his expression hardens. His grip on the chain tightens.

* * *

A bell belonging to the front door rings. Felix angrily gets up.

A group of four stands patiently outside a door. This group consists of two boys, a girl, and a, weirdly enough, flying, blue cat. The black haired boy crosses his arms. He wanted to find the girl as much as the next person, but couldn't find a point in searching already searched places.

The blue cat flies behind the three with wide eyes. He was really only there for moral support. The girl had fiery red hair. She was the one who rang the bell, and now she stand there in her chest plate and skirt, patiently waiting for the door to open.

The other boy has pink hair and is more commonly known as Natsu. His eyes stare down the ground. He still wasn't entirely sure why he had agreed to do this. But even though he so desperately wanted to go home, something had caught his attention. It was a strange scent. He felt as though he knew this smell, but couldn't figure out why. He figured it was nothing and kept it to himself.

And so the group of Natsu, Happy, Erza, and Gray wait so patiently outside the man called Felix's home. Erza is tempted to ring the bell again as the door opens.

A man stands there. He recognizes the pink-haired boy, but none of the others. "If this is about that girl. What was her name? Lucy? Ah. Yes. If this is about that Lucy girl, I still haven't seen her."

He contains his anger well, even after the group pushes their way past him. The red-haired girl looks at him. "If you haven't seen her, then I guess you wouldn't mind us searching your home."

Anger rises as Erza searches every corner. Gray manages his way through several rooms. But Natsu is still distracted by that smell, which only seems to be getting stronger. There had to be a reason it was so familiar. Happy stayed silent and followed the boy.

The scent leads to the room the boy recognizes as the falling apart room. He slowly opens the door, revealing the sight of chains and used sheets. It didn't look like that last time he was there.

Natsu slowly walks in as Happy calls out to the others. "Guys! I think we found something!_"_

* * *

_Hi hi. Again. So that's the end of the chapter. I'm excited for the next chapter... not really. But... yeah. Review... favourite if you haven't yet. But don't forget to review. They make me super duper happy. :D I hope the chapter didn't suck TOO much. Anyways, the next chapter will be out... whenever I decide to actually write it! :D So be on the look out!  
_


	8. Chapter 8

"Guys, I think you'd better see this." a certain blue exceed called out.

Erza shoots Felix a glare before hurrying to grab Gray. They quickly walked to join the pink-haired boy, only to notice why he was so stunned.

A long chain connected to a bed that just happened to look recently used. Natsu stepped into the room, the familiar scent really catching his attention now. The boy ran a hand over the sheets, noticing the outline of a body was still etched into the mattress.

The red-haired girl grabs Felix's arm tightly. "There'd better be a good reason for this."

Felix scowls. "This is where my maid sleeps. She's out shopping right now."

The fire mage runs his fingers along the chains. Felix says, "And that is for her dog. He likes to run, so he is kept on a chain."

Gray steps forward and looks at the door that led to the bedroom. He was quick to open the door. "A reasonable explanation, but there doesn't seem to be any hints that leads to a dog being here. Natsu, do you smell a dog?"

Natsu stares down at the bed and chain. There was no way he had missed all this the first time he came over, right? There was no way. And this scent, it could only be one person. It was so sweet and familiar. It could only be...

"Natsu?" Gray calls, "Flame Brain! You smell anything?"

The words, or rather name, escapes his lips without him even realizing it. It was barely a mutter, but Erza and Gray both noticed it without hearing exactly what he said. The boy's eyebrows scrunched together.

"What did you say?" Erza demands to know. Her eyebrows turn down in anger as she glares at Felix once more. Felix says nothing.

It had to be her. There was no other explanation. This scent was her's. This scent was Lucy's. Natsu was quick to dig through his pockets for something. A small, white ribbon comes from his pocket and up to his nose.

He had run to the blonde girl's house before the four of them left. At first, he was only there to make sure he had her keys. Then he was there to make a promise to get her back, again. And when he left, he grabbed the ribbon, still somewhat strong with her scent, just in case.

And now was the "just in case" incident he needed. He inhaled deeply, her smell filling his nostrils and a slight vision of her filling his head. He pulled the ribbon from his face and breathed in the smell of the room. As he exhaled, her name passed his lips again, this time, louder, "Lucy."

Erza's iron-grip tightened further. "Natsu seems to have caught her scent."

Gray pulled close. "So tell us more about this maid of yours."

Erza, Gray, and Felix exited the room, leaving Natsu and Happy on their own. Happy tugged at the boy's pant legs, tears in his large eyes. "We're getting close, right, Natsu?"

Natsu nodded. "We'll find her real soon."

A smile appeared on the boy's face, causing the cat to smile as well. They grinned at one another before running to catch up with the other three.

* * *

It's dark within the forest. Without a light, it's hard to see. And without being able to see, it was very easy for the girl to trip over everything. Light barely passes through the tops of the trees, yet plants and bushes amazingly can grow.

The plants that do grow are thorny, scratching up the girl's legs with ease. She's pretty sure that her legs, arms, and especially feet are all bleeding, but she continues still, ignoring her own fatigue. The girl just wants to get far enough away from 'him'. She just wants to go home.

Roots stick out every-which-way, tripping the girl until even her hands are bleeding from how many times she's tripped. She's pretty sure she's twisted her ankle, but the swelling pain doesn't stop her, regardless of her tears. She just wants to go home. She just wants to rest.

* * *

An iron-clad fist hits a wall, just barely missing the man's head. He doesn't even flinch as he eyes the person responsible down. Erza leans in closer to Felix. "Where is Lucy?"

Felix shakes his head. "I have no idea who you are talking about."

The Great Titania pulled back her fist, fixing herself to punch again. Gray grabbed her arm. "What happened to Lucy?"

The man averts his gaze up to the pink-haired boy. Natsu's eyes narrow in disgust. To think this an had been able to trick the boy and continue to hold onto his Lucy. The only reasonable explanation was that this man had a death wish. This angered the fire mage shoved his hands into his pockets, using his fingers to glide over the still-missing blonde's keys and ribbon.

A smile manages on Felix's face, but he turned his head down so that none could see it. He notices the raven-haired boy clench his fist and the red-haired girl loosen her own fist. The blue cat hovers slightly out of sight. Felix lets out a sigh. "I still don't know who you are talking about."

"Lucy Heartfilia!" Titania roared, her fist just barely missing the man's head again. "Or perhaps, you'd really much rather discuss things with my fist? I'm fine with either."

A presence slips out the room without notice. It's a wonder to Natsu as to how he'd managed to leave the room, but he had somehow managed it and was just so determined to find the girl now. He just had to follow her trail.

* * *

A squeak manages out of the girl's lips as she trips on an over-sized root. She lands on her knees and hands, swearing as dirt makes its way into her cuts. A few tears fall from the pain, but Lucy makes her way back to her feet and continues on. By now her ankle was swelling greatly. The pain was great, but she didn't want to take a chance and stop now.

* * *

The smell leads on the boy. He didn't quite feel bad for leaving behind his team mates, especially not when he was far more concerned with finding the girl. As far as he knew, she could be badly injured, near death, or passed out on the side of the road. His pain hair waved in the wind as he finally entered the darkest part of the forest.

Naturally, he used his fire to light the way, but rather than run, he walked, just in case. Just to make sure he didn't miss anything.

* * *

Felix raised his hands in surrender. Though he really didn't want to give up his information, he was really just tired of hearing the same questions over and over again. "Where is Lucy?", "What did you do with her?", "Where has she gone?" The questions were so bland and boring. He just couldn't take it any more.

"Look," Felix said, "your friend was here, but that was days ago. She left. And I didn't do anything to her."

Gray frowned and said, "What was up with the chain, then? From the look of it, she was being held here against will."

Felix shook his head. "No. She had stayed in the guest room. The chain, like I said earlier, is for my maid's dog."

Erza eyes the man down, then released a sigh. "Well, Natsu didn't say whether or not he could smell a dog, and we didn't have him check the guest room. I guess that we won't know until we get a response."

Her eyes searched the room for the boy. To her demise, she couldn't find signal he had even been there. "Natsu?"

Gray turned his head to look, but found the same situation. "Where'd that moron go?"

Felix scoffed. "No wonder you lost that Lucy girl, you guys didn't even notice that boy leaving."

Erza released a scowl and, without hesitation, punched the man in the cheek. He was knocked out cold. Gray let out a small laugh. The girl shrugged angrily. "At least he should still be here when we return."

The three, Happy, Erza, and Gray, exited the house. Erza smiled at the blue cat. "Which way, Happy?"

With those words, a loud 'boom' was heard from the forest. Happy spread his wings and said, "I'm only guessing, but I'm thinking this way!"

Erza nodded and chased after the flying cat. Gray was quick to follow.

* * *

When they reached the darker part of the forest, unlike Natsu, they kept up their fast pace. They didn't want to waste more time than necessary. Happy flew further ahead than Gray and Erza, not wanting to lose the so-very-reckless Natsu. Neither Erza nor Gray complained about the speed or lighting.

Yet even with the little lighting, it was easy to find the boy. The fire he was using as light shone bright enough to be seen through even the thickest, darkest brush. Now they just had to catch up with the boy. However, the roots caused problems for the two forced to walk, as they had for the blonde girl when she went through.

When the light was close enough, Happy called out to it, "Natsu!"

The pink-haired boy turned to look at his team and frowned. He just wanted to find her. He sighed. "I'm following her scent!"

Gray scoffed. "You really are a freak."

"No. The sooner we find her, the better. Go on, Natsu. How strong is her scent here?" Erza stated.

"It's almost as strong as it was in that room. We are getting close. She's got to be around here somewhere."

"Gray and I will help you search down." Erza ordered. "Happy, you fly up. If you see anything from above, tell us immediately."

"Aye, Sir!" Happy retorted happily.

* * *

Lucy shivered. She had heard voices and ran to the trees. She wasn't entirely sure how she had managed her way up the tree, but was glad to have made it before being spotted. She hadn't exactly been following the road in the first place, but now she felt even more lost, more tired.

The girl pushed back her bangs. Fear entered her mind with great speed when she heard rustling from below. She'd look if she wasn't so scared of falling out of the tree. All she could do now was pray and hope not to be spotted.

Down below, a certain pink-haired is searching for his friend. He thought it weird that the trail ended right there. Right there at the one tree. Natsu scratched his head in confusion. When a droplet of something hit his forehead, he starred at the sky; to the top of the trees. His finger rubbed against the wet substance and he brought it to his nose.

"Blood?" he questioned as his eyes trailed up the tree it came from.

She hadn't realized just how much she'd been bleeding. Apparently this small time of rest in the tree had been just enough for some blood to work on dripping. Lucy grabbed the area where it came from. "Shit."

The blonde almost fell out of the tree when a fireball came hurdling her way. It barely missed her. She held on tightly, screaming slightly.

Natsu watched the fireball. A black figure, barely lit, was what he saw. The creature starred down at him, but Natsu could still barely see it. He lit a small fire in his hand and starred back up at it.

The small fire lit up a face, from what Lucy could tell. Still she made no sudden movements. Then it hit her. As the facial features came more into sight, she started to realize who it was. Her back straightened. "Natsu? Natsu, is that you?"

A look of shock hit the boy, but with extreme joy. He called up to her, "Lucy! Lucy, it's me!"

"Natsu?" Her eyes blurred in joyful tears. She was so excited to see him, she felt like she was flying. Wind brushed down and around her body. Only his sudden shout of her name informed her of what was happening.

Lucy had accidentally let go of the tree. She was falling head first. But she was so tired, and even the adrenaline couldn't even keep her awake. She just wanted to sleep. She'd managed to make it that far, she felt she deserved a nap. Lucy's mind went into the darkness.

* * *

_**OI! How's it going? Thank you all so much for the nice comments on the last chapter. I... I know I took a little long on this chapter... but I finally finished it! So there! But yeah. Thank you so much for the comments. And... I know this story is listed as M. Don't worry. I'm getting there! I haven't exactly decided yet where to put in a special scene... but you know what? I almost feel up for it! It'll be coming soon! **_

_**So I hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing... I'm just glad that she finally got back to Natsu! But now I feel like I should tell you this... That was only the description! My summary was that she needs to learn how to trust Natsu again. Which is why there will be a special scene. I hope you are all looking forward to it. I probably won't write... some nine chapters before it... maybe I'll only write three. Either way, it will happen for you all. But of course, Felix might cause some trouble again. I'm sorry if my story seems to drag... I sometimes don't reread before I type.**_

_**And I'm sorry if my English sometimes messes up. I usually hand write really early in the morning, or really late at night. So by the time it's done, I'm really tired. And then I usually only type after school, if it's done, or when I wake, which is usually at two in the afternoon. But, I'm usually tired when I write or type. So... I'm sorry about my English. OTL Seriously. I try my best to correct things when I type it up... but you know... **_

_**Anyways, in a week or so, I might not be writing as much for a little while. My English teacher wants my class to do either Independent Reading or Creative Writing. Of course, I chose Creative Writing... But just as a heads up, I might not be writing as much for this story...**_

_**So! Comment, favourite, follow! Do what you must~ Once again, review! I do love my reviews. And I was so excited with how many I got on that last chapter. I bragged to my friend. And well... he just congratulated me. But yeah! I'd do some shout outs to the people who commented, but there were so many of you! I hope to get just as nice comments on this one as well. I love you all so much. So yeah~ See you all in the next chapter.**_


	9. Chapter 9

"Lucy!" he yelled.

She was falling head first out of the tree. And, from what he could see, she already wasn't in perfect condition. Natsu, without thinking, ran to catch her. With but a few feet from hitting the ground, he managed to grab her, swearing slightly as his back hits the ground.

Her tangled mess of hair hits his nose, tickling it ever-so-slightly. Natsu smiled. She was now back in his arms, right where she belonged. His arms wrapped around her waist to get up, but he found he couldn't. The boy let out a soundly laugh as he realizes that he twisted his ankle when jumping to get her.

'Still,' he thought, 'better than just letting her hit the ground.'

He dug into his pocket for her ribbon. When he successfully found it, Natsu pulled aside Lucy's hair and tied it up as best he could. It was a difficult task for him, and the end result was terrible, but he somehow managed. The boy let out a relieved sigh.

"Natsu!" a voice from above called.

The boy's eyes trailed off the girl and to the sky. A small blue cat came into view. A toothy grin was passed to one another.

Natsu spoke slowly to the cat, "Oi, hold her a sec while I get up."

Happy nodded and grabbed onto the girl. Any other time, he'd have made a comment about her weight, but now just didn't seem like a good time. While Natsu stood up, the unconscious girl stirred slightly in the cat's paws. The pink-haired boy smiled at the girl, taking her back from the cat.

Natsu had a hard time walking with his sprained ankle, but didn't let it show. Happy offered to take her back, but the boy wouldn't allow it. He was determined to carry her all the way back to Erza and Gray, perhaps all the way back to Fairy Tail.

The boy signalled to his cat to inform the other two that he had her, to which Happy happily complied and flew off. Natsu smiled at Lucy's sleeping face and brought her face to his own. Lips hovered over lips. The temptation to close this gap was almost excruciating. He shook his head and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Welcome home, Luce."

Heavy footsteps crunching leaves was heard ahead. Natsu fixed himself and before he knew it, he was looking at Gray and Erza. They smiled softly. Erza brushed back Lucy's bangs.

She said, "Come on, let's go home."

They turned back to the road and continued on their way home. Gray had once noticed Natsu's limp, but when he tried to take Lucy, Natsu suddenly became defensive and wouldn't let her go. After a bit of convincing, the pink-haired boy finally agreed to take a train back to Fairy Tail. But even when he felt bad on the train, he made sure he had a hand on her at all times and that she was always in sight.

* * *

Chocolate brown eyes open to an almost pure white room. The body that owns the eyes can only wonder as to if she is dead. Anything this pure white could only be the afterlife, right? Her hands moved to her face.

'No.' she thinks, 'I wouldn't be so bandaged up in the afterlife.'

She can see a window next to where she laid. Outside is a blue sky with small amounts of white fluffy clouds. The girl can only wonder as to her whereabouts. The place did seem to have a home feeling, but there was no way she was actually in bed at home.

She lifted up off the bed slowly. There was some pain in her abdomen region, but now she could see her bandages clearly. It wasn't too bad. Her legs had small band-aids and her feet were wrapped up, but other than that, it wasn't bad at all.

The girl let out a soft sigh as her eyes trailed to the window again. The light stung her freshly unglazed eyes, but she didn't look away. There were some people out there she didn't recognize and some she did. She could see long white hair that could only belong to one person and instantly knew where she was.

Her eyes turned red from tears in joy. Her hands ran up to wipe away her tears. Hair hung greasily beside her face. As she ran her fingers through it, it felt dead. True, she'd been in worse condition before, but now she just felt gross. The girl laid back down as the door opened. Her eyes closed to make it seem as though she had been sleeping.

"Lucy?" a familiar voice called as the door opened.

A blue-haired girl stepped in, pouting slightly. She was petite in nature, allowing her to have light footsteps as she walked, or rather glided, across the floor. The bluenette sighed as she saw her friend, still asleep.

"They lied!" she pouted. "She's still asleep! How could she have been at the window if she was asleep?"

Lucy almost began to cry again as she listened to the voice that could only belong to Levy. Levy turned towards the door with a sigh and started to walk out.

"It's no fun seeing her this way. I hope she wakes up soon." Levy stated wholeheartedly.

That was it. Lucy couldn't take it any more. Her eyes popped open, full of tears again. Her voice was hoarse and strained, "Levy?"

The petite girl stopped in her tracks after hearing her name come from the lips of her friend. Levy turned to see Lucy sitting up, tears in eyes. Lucy was so glad that it was only Levy here to see her cry. Levy ran to embrace the blonde girl in, her version of, a tight hug.

The blonde cried into the blue-haired girl's shoulder until Levy finally pulled away. The hazel eyes of Levy stared lovingly into the brown eyes of her friend. "Lucy? Are you all right? Nothing bad happened to you, right? I mean, something obviously happened, but nothing really bad, right?"

Lucy managed to smile, though her lip quivered ever-so-slightly. Her head shook. Her voice was still strange to her. "No. Nothing too bad. If anything was really bad, it was being deprived from a good, long bath."

Levy let out a small chuckle. "Well, now that you're home, you can take a good, long bath."

"Everyone's here though, aren't they?" Lucy sighed. "I'd never be able to sneak past them all."

"Don't worry about that." Levy smiled. "We set up a bath for when you wake up, just in case you wanted it."

The blonde smiled, managing her way off the bed again. Levy grabbed her hand to show her the way. "Are you sure nothing bad happened? He didn't try anything, that man, did he?"

Lucy could feel her face heat up from the question. "N-No! Nothing like that!"

A sigh of relief was released. "Good!"

* * *

After Lucy took a long bath and found that Levy had run to the blonde's apartment for clothing, she was slow to get dressed. She almost didn't want to go see the rest of the guild, especially not when only seeing Levy had made her cry. And if she was to come face-to-face with Natsu? She wasn't sure how she'd react.

Lucy let out a sigh and pulled her still-dripping blonde locks into a side ponytail with the white ribbon that had been left at her bedside. Her ankle was sore, but not sprained or broken, as she had found her. Her skirt was short enough to show her cuts, but Lucy wasn't embarrassed by them. The cuts on her arms showed as well.

The girl stopped in front of the steps to go downstairs. She's more than certain that no one else is upstairs with her, but she isn't sore if she really wants to go down. Her thoughts are fixed on wondering as to whether or not she could handle seeing everyone. Levy, by now, surely told everyone that Lucy was up. All the more reason not to go down. All the more reason to just go and crawl back into bed.

Lucy swallowed down her anxiety and fears in one big gulp and continued to force her legs down each step. Each step squeaked loudly, even under light footsteps, making her gradually regret her decision until she finally stepped into the bar of the guild. She was quick to receive shocked looks from some, to which she smiled.

When the realization that Lucy was up and about hit, a huge wave of cheers ran in the girl's ears. Her regret of going downstairs ceased to exist as some confidence took place. The blonde waved at all the familiar faces, fairly surprised that she wasn't crying.

The white-haired wonder, Mirajane, came running up to the girl's side and pulled her by the hand into the crowd of people. Lucy's ears rang with the sound of people telling her "Welcome home", or "It's good to see you safe". All she could do was smile and nod back, though. She could mouth the words "thank you" back, but the sound itself wouldn't come out. She could tell it was from her need to now cry.

Lucy's chocolate eyes trailed over everyone. There was no way to tell exactly where some people were, and she certainly had no idea where she wanted to sit, but as soon as she spotted the figures of Gray and Erza, to which she smiled excitedly, she hurried off to them. Gray set a hand on Lucy's still-wet hair and ruffled it a bit, making her smile widen. Erza sent off a bright smile to the girl.

"Good to see you up." Gray commented, now pulling away his hand.

Lucy beamed up in joy at him. "It's good to see you too, Gray. I'm so happy to be home. Thank you for bring me home finally."

Gray nodded as Lucy turned now to Erza. "You too. I probably wouldn't be home if you weren't there, I think. I don't actually remember much after escaping aside from running."

"How did you escape, any ways?" Erza asked.

"I picked the lock." Lucy shrugged.

"Did Felix do anything to you? I can still break his face and turn him in, if need be." Erza said. "He said you were there visiting, but we know you were being held there. But if he did anything, we'll hurt him."

Lucy shook her head. "No. He didn't do anything, as I've told Levy. Actually, he was fairly nice to me. He gave me clothing to put on when my other one's had gotten dirty, and he gave me fairly good food."

"That's all good, but I still want to break his face."

Lucy laughed. "There's no need to do that."

Her eyes trailed over to the sight of pink-hair. Lucy could still remember her thoughts of blaming him. So many hours did she think to herself, all by herself, that it was that boy's fault. Heat ran down her neck in a cold chill when she noticed he was heading her way. She couldn't face him. Not now, at least.

Lucy turned to Erza again, and was quick to say, "I'm going home."

"But the party just started!" Erza noted.

"I don't..." Lucy started, trailing of ever-so-slightly, "I just don't feel well."

The girl was quick to turn away, already heading towards the door as she heard a slight answer. The blonde hurried out into the cool air, leaving the pink-haired boy confused as he finally reached the table where she once was. He looked over at the red-haired girl questioningly.

"Where did Lucy go?" Natsu asked.

Gray shrugged. "She said something about not feeling well and heading home."

Natsu sighed. "Well, I'm sure it'll be fine if I'm only going to give her her keys."

* * *

Lucy sighed softly as she fiddled with the doorknob of her home. She couldn't believe that she had left the party strictly because she had seen Natsu. Of course, things wouldn't be so awkward if she hadn't stupidly blamed Natsu for everything. It's not like it was really his fault, was it? She didn't care, she was just glad to be home.

When the door opened, Lucy was quick to turn on the lights. Everything was how she left, so she thought. Even her story and writing utensils had been amazingly left alone and intact on the table. She let out a soft smile, glad to be home. Home, sweet home, where there was no one to bother her. There was no pink-haired boy to mess with her.

"Lucy." a voice from the darkness called out, making the girl jump. There was no one to mess with her, or so she thought.

"N-Natsu?" she jumped back.

The boy walked out from the dark shadows to reveal himself. He wore a silly grin on his mug, but something seemed off. Something about him was strange and wrong. Lucy turn away, not wanting to look at him quite yet. He sighed and came in close, wrapping his warm arms around her waist and pulling her into a hug.

His nose nuzzled into her neck, causing warm shivers to run down her back. He spoke softly into her neck, "I've missed ya, Luce."

Her body froze for a second until finally did she pull herself out of his grasp, still not saying anything. She kept her back to the boy, ignoring the heat of his confused stare.

"Luce." he says softly yet so very awkwardly.

Lucy holds back her pained expression with a bite on her bottom lip. It was tough. It was tough at this point not to cry. She just wanted to be left alone so as to not remember what she had said about the boy. She didn't want him to see her tears. Not now, not ever.

Natsu reaches out for her wrist, but stops himself. Instead, he rubs the back of his neck. "Look, Luce, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let you be taken away."

Lucy turns solemnly to the boy, refusing to look him in the eye. Natsu continues any ways, "I didn't mean for all that to happen. All I wanted was to go on a mission with you. I didn't think all that would happen."

She continues to look at the floor. Natsu grips her shoulders, trying his best to look in her eyes. Lucy was starting to lose her composure at this point. "I'm sorry, Luce. I didn't think you'd be taken away from me."

"That's because you never think things through, Natsu." Lucy whispered, her eyes picking up for a split second. "You never think."

Natsu pulled back. He had heard what she said with his excellent hearing, but couldn't believe she had said it. His voice pulls back, tightening from being hurt by her words. "What?"

Lucy shuddered from his one word. She was sure what she had said hurt herself more than it did him. But of course, now she couldn't stop herself. The tears began to run down her cheeks. She looked sad and mad, but in truth, she was just mad at herself for crying and sad for not being able to hold it in.

She directed her attention from the floor to him, making him pull back a little further. Her voice raised to a painful shout. "You never think things through! For all I know, you barely looking for me when I was missing! And what about Felix? You know I was actually at his house, right? I'd been there the whole time! If you had actually thought about it for once, we wouldn't even be in this position! If you had actually thought, for once in a lifetime!"

Natsu's eyes took their turn to look down sadly. The last thing he wanted was Lucy to yell at him. He took a step away from her. "Lucy, I'm sorry."

"Don't give me that bull, Natsu." Lucy started, "You know as well as I that this is all your fault!"

"My fault?" Natsu questioned, sadness now being taken over by pure rage. "Are you really going to call this all my fault? You know, I couldn't left you there! But I didn't, I searched so desperately for you! If I didn't know you were at his house, it's because you didn't do a good enough job making it obvious!"

"Yeah!" Lucy scoffed, "Because you are so good at noticing the obvious!"

"What's your point?" he laughed. "Maybe I'm not actually good at noticing things, but I can at least protect myself from danger without relying on others!"

"So what if I have to rely on others, that's what friends do, they rely on each other! But obviously, I never should have relied on you!"

"But friends have to be able to protect each other too! I'd have to save myself because you are so weak!"

Lucy frowned. "I may be weak, but at least I'm smart and think things through."

"I'm smart!" Natsu protested, making the girl laugh.

"Smart? That's funny!" she laughed loudly. "You can barely read!"

Natsu frowned back with a sigh. "Maybe I should have left you there."

"Maybe you should have!" Lucy screamed, holding back another wave of tears. "Maybe next time you should just leave me!"

"Maybe I will!" the boy yelled back.

The blonde reached out and slapped the boy. She pointed towards the door. "Get out!"

The pink-haired boy felt himself calming down quick from her hand against his cheek. He made a 'tsk' noise and turned away. His hands reached into his pockets as he stepped in front of the door to leave. To his surprise, her keys were still there. He pulled them out and let them fall to the floor with a loud noise.

"By the way, here are your keys. You might want to do a better job protecting them next time." Natsu scoffed as he finally left.

Lucy didn't turn to look. When the door closed, she fell down to her knees and cried into her hands. It was a while before she could move from the spot, but when she could, she ignored the keys and laid instantly in her bed without a second thought, face in pillow.

* * *

**WOOT! That's another chapter. Hiya guys, I hope you liked this chapter. I can't say I liked writing it, but it had to be done. Don't worry, things can only get better from here, right? Maybe, I don't know.**

**Thank you again for all your support with this story. Once again, if there is anything you want to suggest or something, go ahead and message me, I love hearing what you all have to say.**

**Um... I had another idea for this chapter, but I didn't write it. I was too lazy. BUT THIS IS MY LONGEST CHAPTER YET... SO I THINK THAT MAKES UP FOR IT, RIGHT?**

**So... when I was looking over my original concept that I had written on paper... I say that one of my important secondary characters was supposed to be Juvia... but now I've forgotten why. Really... so should I just say no Juvia? What do you all think? I don't know!**

**Um... Comment, if you please. I love comments, they make me happy. Maybe I'll do another shout out in the next chapter or message you guys with a thanks? I don't know, but comment! I love love love comments. Favourite, if you haven't. But please, comment, I'll love you forever and ever if you do. Thank you all so much!**

**Oh... and if they seem a bit out of character, that's because I did that on purpose. It's to add a little more tension and add a little more umph to the oncoming chapters.**


	10. Chapter 10

Every night, for the blonde teen, had suddenly been filled with fears. Sleep was impossible. It was impossible when bad dreams plagued her mind. Still, she tried to sleep, but rest wasn't possible. Ever since she had come back, she had been having an abundance of nightmares.

Dreams of rejection. Dreams of death. Dreams of loneliness. Her mind never seemed to run out of fears to play with; dreams to torture her with. It was depressing and really starting to take its toll on her.

She was afraid of sleep. The girl had had so many bad dreams no matter how many times times she tried to sleep that she had actually begun to fear sleep. And when she did manage sleep, she only received thirty minutes of rest before her mind began to haunt her again. In the time period of five day, the most rest she had managed was two hours.

She was running on fumes. It was a surprise to her that she could even walk, though she started swaying now with every step. Bags were apparent under the teen's eyes no matter how much make-up she tried her hand at. At this point, when she found herself dozing off, she was quick to stop it with a few splashes of icy-cool water or something similar. She just couldn't sleep at this point.

The blonde teen began slapping the sides of her face as she released a yawn. She knew lack of sleep wasn't good for her health, but she didn't want to risk yet more nightmares. She had, of course by doing this, caught the attention of a certain Mirajane Strauss.

The white-haired girl set her hand on the blonde's hand. Her eyes were filled with concern. "Lucy, are you all right? Have you been getting proper amounts of sleep?"

Lucy turned away from her friend and allowed her tired eyes to slowly look over the guild filled with people. Or rather, she was looking until her eyes hit the sight of pink. She found herself now staring at Natsu. She hadn't talked to him much since their argument, or rather she didn't talk to him at all. Her heart was starting to ache without him, but she mostly ignored it.

Natsu smiled at Erza, who happened to be sitting across from him. He'd be lying if he said the argument hadn't bothered him, but so long as Lucy refused to talk to him, he wouldn't talk to her. He regretted his words. He regretted telling her that he would come if she was caught again. In reality, he'd come for her in a heartbeat no matter the danger. There was no way he'd let her be taken again.

It didn't matter how long it took, or how long she was mad at him, he would always come and get her. For now, all he could do was wait for her acceptance again.

Natsu released a sigh. He was so bored without Lucy, and Happy was far more concerned with his fish. Truth be told, he'd go on a mission to occupy his mind, but he was so used to going on missions with Lucy that it didn't feel right without her. It was like something was missing without her.

An intense heat hit the back of the boy's neck and rose up to his head and descended down his spine. It was most definitely the heat of being stared at. Confused, his onyx eyes ran around the room until they found the culprit. His eyes met up with chocolate brown eyes. Fixated on them, Natsu knew they could only belong to that of Lucy.

Lucy blushed and turned away. She could feel the heat of his stare for quite some time before it finally disappeared. She turned to look again, mouth slightly open, eyebrows pushed together in despair. When she turned back, she laid her arms onto the table, then her head on her arms, with a sigh.

"I can't believe," Lucy started with a pout, looking up at Mirajane from under her bangs, "that it's already been two weeks since our argument, and he still refuses to talk to me!"

"Why don't you just talk to him then?" Mira questioned.

Lucy sighed again. "I'm the reason we fought! I can't just go up and talk to him as if nothing happened."

"Sure you can!" Mira stated with a smile. "All you have to do is walk up to him and say hello."

The distressed teen shook her head. "I don't think he wants to talk to me any ways. Especially not after what I said to him. And especially not after what he said to me."

"Do you regret what you said?"

Lucy thought it over. She did but didn't regret it. True, he didn't deserve to have been yelled at, but she just couldn't have held it in any longer. The girl nodded. "I regret what I said."

"What did you tell him?" Mirajane questioned, not actually knowing the whole story.

Distressed still, the girl released a half-yawn, half-sigh. "I told him that it was his fault I was ever in the situation."

Mirajane's worry was obvious. "What else did you tell him?"

More distress. "I kind of told him that he was too dense. That I said without thinking. But I was trying to hint that he just wasn't looking hard enough, I think. I don't actually remember much. Probably because I'm exhausted, but slightly because my emotions had suddenly taken over my thought process."

"But you were obviously wrong." The elder girl said. "Even what you were trying to say was wrong."

Lucy finally lifted her head from the table, staring at her friend in confusion. Though Mirajane was smiling softly, her eyes were hard. Lucy lifted up a little more, though she was still super exhausted. Mirajane continued. "Out of all of us, Natsu was the most worried; the most concerned. He spent all his time researching information in books, taking notes, staring at maps."

Lucy stared at her friend. The very idea of Natsu reading seemed unreal. It had to be a lie. After all, the boy barely read the information on the mission notices let alone books. But still, if he was looking through books to find clues on where she was, then he really must have been worried.

"Eventually," the girl continued, "he started being a bit of a recluse. He stayed at home. Rarely did he come out. The only person that saw him was Erza, and naturally Happy. And from what I had heard from Erza, he was always lying on the floor, either sleeping of going over his work again."

The information surprised Lucy, but she refused to let her surprise show. In all actuality, she almost didn't believe what Mriajane said, but she really had no reason not to believe the girl. Besides, Mirajane wasn't one to lie, she just said what she knew and what she heard.

The blonde teen threw her head back down on the table with a groan. All this information was making her head spin, of course it could just be from how tired she was, and now it was giving her a major headache. Lucy yawned, closing her eyes for but a moment.

The minutes she closed her eyes, though she wasn't asleep, the dreams kicked on. Natsu dead on the sideline: Erza crying: Wendy and Juvia and Levy completely rejecting the girl. There was destruction, buildings destroyed. The sky was of an ugly purple, red, and brown. Death was everywhere.

Lucy gasped and quickly opened her eyes back up. That was no where close to the worse things she'd seen yet. The idea of closing her eyes again scared her. Lucy let out a slight moan from not being able to sleep.

"Hi, Gray." Mira smiled, patting Lucy on the head before turning away.

Lucy sat up quickly, acknowledging Gray with a smile. Gray nodded at Mira and sat next to Lucy. He was shirtless, nipples sticking out from the cool breeze. His body was, as always, well toned and tanned. A silver necklace hung loosely around his neck, as it always did.

He turned to Lucy. "What are you doing later?"

Heat ran up Lucy's face. She knew she wasn't doing anything. In fact, she had just planned on going home and writing, perhaps try to sleep, but it was weird that Gray asked. It's not that she didn't like Gray, he just wasn't her idea of anything more than a friend.

Lucy shook her head, deciding to be honest about it. "I probably won't be doing anything."

"Good." Gray says. The girl's head starts to spin again, this time in confusion. Good? Her not doing anything was good? Gray noticed this and continues speaking. "Well, I wanted to know if you'd like to go out later?"

'Oh God!' Lucy thought. Her head was spinning faster than ever before. 'Is he trying to ask me out on a date? What do I do? What do I say? I can't go on a date with Gray! Or can I? I mean, he wouldn't be my first choice, but he's asking, so I might as well go. But Juvia likes Gray! She might think that I'm trying to take him from her! I can't go on a date with Gray!'

"Before you start thinking so, and you probably already are," Gray started with a smile, "I'm not asking you out on a date. You just look like you need a day out."

A sigh of relief was released only within Lucy's mind. 'At least it isn't a date.'

Lucy shook her head. "I might be doing something later, now that I think about it. But thank you for the offer."

"Thinking about Natsu and sulking around isn't something to do." Gray frowned. "Luce, you need to go out and have some fun. You've been acting strange since you returned. I think this is just what you need."

"I still don't know, Gray." Lucy said. "I'm not sure if I really want to go out tonight."

"Luce," Gray started, "you've got everyone in the guild worried sick. Even that flame-brain moron is worried. If tonight can fix all that, then go for it. You just might start to feel better."

Lucy mulled over her options with a sigh. The blonde teen knew he was right. She really probably was going to sit around and sulk. She knew that since she returned, something has been off about her. She just wasn't sure if spending time with Gray was really going to help her feel better.

But if it could make her feel better about things, then it'd be worth it. If it could make her feel better, and she decided not to go, she'd really be missing out on a great opportunity. Again, however, was the question of whether or not she really wanted to spend time with Gray. Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out as she was quickly cut off by Gray.

"It's okay if you really don't want to go, I understand. If you say no, it's perfectly fine." Gray said with a smile.

A flash of heat ran up Lucy's face. It couldn't hurt saying yes, right? Lucy nodded. "I'll go."

"Great! Meet me at this one tree by the riverbank in the park. You'll know which tree it is." He said as he turned to leave, already starting to walk away.

Lucy pulled back. "Wait! How will I know?"

Gray raised his hand at her. He didn't say anything, he just kept walking away. Lucy raised her hand to stop him, but kept herself from calling. If he said she would know, then really she should be able to figure it out, right?

* * *

The girl stood up. 'He said it wasn't a date, but I'll dress fairly nice any ways.'

Lucy brushed her skirt. All she did was change her shirt to a pink tank top and called Cancer to help her with her hair, which had been tied off with a pink ribbon. She brushed her bangs again off to the side with her fingers.

She wasn't entirely sure whether or not Gray would be there yet, or even if she'd know which tree, but she kept on walking up the river bank regardless. None of the trees really stood out. They were all normal. And even the strange tree that looked to have a face similar to Makarov didn't stand out to her. Perhaps he was just pulling her leg?

But then she saw it. She had caught sight of a small gleaming ice sculptures on a tree. There had to be a reason it was there. That had to be a sign from Gray. Lucy walked faster towards it. Then a body came into sight. Lucy released a sigh of relief.

The body began to take form, colours starting to show. Blue pants, red shirt, white scarf, pink hair. Lucy stopped in her tracks, already so close to the tree. Pink hair? Gray's hair was black, not pink!

'He said I'd know when I got there, right?' Lucy's eyes rolled over to the ice. 'Is that the signal? Why is he here? Don't tell me...'

Her voice trailed off in her head. She mumbled his name under her breath. "Natsu..."

The boy turned to the sound, clearly hearing it with his astounding hearing. He blushed with a frown. He started back at her. "Lucy?"

* * *

_Hi hi. Sorry I took so long with this chapter. I was a bit busy with my bullsh*t story I'm writing for Fairy Tail with my friend. Um... I'm sorry this chapter is a little bit boring. I'm setting it up for the next chapter. The next chapter will be a lot more interesting... if you know what I mean ;D Oh. I got so mad earlier. I had actually finished typing this at like... 4... and was uploading at 5. Well, I was able to upload it on Quotev... And then fanfiction wouldn't let me log in... So now it's 11 and I feel so bad because it's taken me 6 hours just to get it uploaded it onto here... OTL Sorry.  
But yeah. There's gonna be a lemon in the next chapter. I already decided upon that. I know I've taken so long to add the damn lemon, but I figured that when the time came, it would just happen. OTL I'm not actually one to normally write lemons. Most lemons I write are only in my head. Never on paper let alone on the internet, so I'll try my best. No promises though. It might not be that great.  
If you guys could comment, it'd be greatly appreciated. Perhaps you could send me PMs on how the lemon should work? I'm new at that kind of stuff, when it comes to actually writing it. Perhaps you could just comment and wish me the best of luck? I don't know. But suggestions are greatly appreciated. Actually, comments in general are appreciated. Anything you want to say! Anything you want to point out! Anything! I love comments.  
Lol. That's enough of this. Um... so yeah! Keep an eye out for the next chapter! I'll try to write it as soon as possible, even though I've been recently busy. I'll do my best, so keep on reading, keep on commenting. And, if you haven't done so yet, don't forget to favourite and follow! I love you all so dearly!  
~ZatsuneMiku1/Rebecca Lauber_


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